Star Wars VII, The Force Awakens REIMAGINED
by xisinj64
Summary: Taking to heart the criticisms against Force Awakens for its unoriginality and plethora of poorly explained story elements, I have decided to do a rewrite of the Force Awakens, salvaging what parts of it I can to a more original narrative within Star Wars. The journey is different, characters underused are used, but the ending is the same broadly. Biggest change: No Starkiller base
1. Opening Title, Tuanul Village

**Star Wars**

 **Episode VII: The Force Awakens [reimagined]**

* * *

 **Luke Skywalker has vanished.** **  
In his absence, the sinister** **  
FIRST ORDER has risen** **  
from the ashes of the Empire** **  
and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi,** **  
has been destroyed.**

 **With the support of the REPUBLIC,**

 **General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE.**

 **She is desperate to find her  
brother Luke and gain his  
help in restoring peace and  
justice to the galaxy.**

 **Leia has sent her most daring**

 **pilot on a secret mission  
to Jakku, where an old ally  
has discovered a clue to  
Luke's whereabouts . . . .**

* * *

 **Jakku orbit**

The ominous silhouette of the dagger shaped starship hung high above the darkened planet, the small light specks of shuttle craft and fighters embarking in a small contingent to the surface breaking its seemingly ominous stillness in the desert planet's space.

The First Order had someone it wanted on this planet, someone who by order from the Supreme Leader, had to be stopped before he could find what his General in the New Republic wanted.

The Finalizer hung back, the 3-kilometre-long Resurgent class Star Destroyer waiting patiently in orbit as the landing party descended into the atmosphere.

Atmospheric Assault Landers, or AALs, flanked by TIE/FO fighters, flew down in a small squadron, with a single black Upsilon class Shuttle following.

* * *

 **Jakku, Tuanul village**

The small village, sparsely populated, was one of many outposts on this battle scarred planet. The past wrecks from the last great conflict between the Rebellion and the Empire 29 years ago littered the planet, and great profits were made from salvage across the planet by those willing to endure the harsh environment.

But junk salvage was merely their means of sustaining their life, not necessarily why they had come to this remote planet in the neutral space.

Sometimes solitude was the only means of safety for those of the Church of the Force.

Founded under the same ideals as the Jedi, before the Old Republic became the Galactic Empire, the Church had been clandestine, keeping heads low during the age of the Empire. In the 30 years since, they had flourished in their chosen safe outposts, and made lives for themselves, eschewing all but necessary modern technology to make a life of peace, their salvage from wrecks merely subsistence to support their lives out in this backwater planet.

And the New Jedi order had made contacts with the Church, had dealings, and even made arrangements known only to a very select few.

* * *

The village elder, Lor San Tekka, handed the small device to the pilot before him, sat in the hut opposite him, a small ball shaped droid watching nearby.

"Keep this safe, he entrusted it to me, and now I do the same to you."

Taking the small device, Poe Dameron pocketed the thumb sized data drive into his jacket, while the droid, BB-8, whistled lowly from nearby, slowly wheeling out on his spherical body to begin idly scanning outside.

"General Organa would want me to thank you for helping, despite the dangers."

"General? No, to me she'll always be royalty." Lor San Tekka gave a rueful smile, though Poe then asked outright:

"So what is this exactly, just so I know what I could be getting gunned for."

"It is a signal. You must bring it to one who knows where Luke is, the only one he ever told. Someone not as affiliated with him, but one he could trust."

"Who?"

"She-."

A sudden electronic beeping sounded, as BB-8 rushed inside the hut. Poe, with in built translator tech in his ear, understood.

"We've got company. 10 minutes out, and a star destroyer in orbit."

"You must leave."

"I can get in my-."

"No! If they're that close you'll never get away, and you must not fail."

Lor San Tekka replied hastily, as he then said:

"This planet is vast, with villages elsewhere. Take my speeder bike, get as far from here, and make your way back when you are safer to do so. They'll only look here for now."

Sensing a hidden truth of resignation, Poe paused briefly, as Lor San Tekka gave him a stern look of pleading to go.

"Thank you."

"May the force be with you. Go."

* * *

"We gotta pack light BB, come on!"

Hauling the last of his essential supplies, including compact rations, from his X-wing, Resistance Pilot Poe Dameron clambered out, having set the X-wing to self-destruct if fired upon.

BB-8 whistled from afar, as the droid was already beside the antique 74-Z speeder bike, a few mini grappling cables hoisting it onto the back of the skeletal looking bike. Running up, Poe gave the droid a last hoist up, as he clambered on himself.

Sparing a last look back, Poe saw the villagers readying what rather pitiful weapons they had. It didn't feel right, leaving them, but he had to.

This was bigger than them.

Gunning the engine, Poe Dameron and BB-8 took off into the desert, keeping systems powered as low as possible to fool scanners. But night was a good cover for them.

Minutes later, the lights and first bursts from a low flying TIE fighter strafed the edge of the village, to which Poe cast a hard look back at as he was now 5 miles from the village. BB-8 whistled mournfully, but the droid and pilot continued into the night desert while they had the chance.

* * *

The shaking of the AAL's hull signalled they were nearing the drop zone, as the stark white First Order Stormtrooper armour was shadowed with many shakes of the hull playing with the lighting.

FN-2187 breathed calmly. This wouldn't be his first combat mission, but he was tense nonetheless.

"Hey, you okay?"

A small whisper from behind him came, as 2187 turned his head to see FN-2003, one of 3 other stromtroopers he knew from operating in the same cadet unit. 2003, nicknamed 'Slip' was a Stormtrooper who looked up to 2187, of whom 2187 often helped during his 'slipups'. Even so, being on this mission meant even slip had potential, or else Captain Phasma wouldn't even consider taking him.

"Yeah, just, nervous."

"I get that. Lot of training missions, but it won't be as bad as that mining colony shootout. These guys are definite enemies."

"Yeah." 2187 remarked. This was his first official assignment, as all others before had been training. Phasma was nurturing him and his unit as officer material, her own personal soldiers.

Up at the front, Phasma stood imposingly in her grey armour, the blood red cloak hanging from her shoulder as she hollered to them as they landed, pulling the hatch switch:

"GO!"

* * *

The battle was short, but brutal. The Stormtroopers shot with zero remorse, as the villagers had few weapons that really stood much harm to them.

What villagers that weren't shooting were rounded up, though most of the stormtroopers focused their fire on those actually shooting at them. Blaster fire and shots ricocheted and lit up the village, setting on fire a few awnings draped outside some of the huts, as cries and the smells of burning, blood and smoke filled the air.

As another shot flew past his head, 2187 ducked behind some cover. This time was different, he had someone actually firing back at him. But even so, they were attacking them.

Though he had to admit this was the first enemy that was using mass slug guns instead of blasters, very primitive.

Slip ran past, firing his blaster at another villager who was trying to hold back them taking a larger hut. A stray bolt came and caught Slip in the neck, between the more protective armor parts.

Incensed, 2187 dashed from cover, his blaster downing the robed villager that shot Slip in a heartbeat before he dashed over, bending down to inspect Slips, who had a hand to his throat as he slightly gurgled beneath his mask. Weakening, as 2187 shook him to keep him awake, 2003 ran a bloody hand over 2187's mask, before he slowly faded from life.

* * *

The fighter craft was found behind a large hut, on the edge of town.

"A Resistance fighter! Come out right now!"

The parked fighter was motionless, at which point the Stormtrooper pair fired a warning shot each. Without warning, the X-wing exploded in a large fireball, as the self-destruct program had been programmed to do.

The Resistance maintained secrecy, and any means of undermining the First Order were used.

* * *

The fighter explosion outside the village was a barely discernible rumble to FN-2187, though it was a motivator for the other troopers to finish up in the village.

The blaster noises around were numbed, as 2187 recoiled slowly from his fallen brother, looking around as the carnage was finally settling. A ring of captured prisoners, mostly elders and children, were being hauled into the centre of the village.

The blood from 2003's handprint on his helmet made one of his eye visor sides slightly red, as 2187 felt numb in the whole situation, other Stormtroopers going past him to the centre.

"FN-2187, fall in." A coarse female voice sounded behind, as Captain Phasma strode past, noticing his disorientation. Snapping out of it, 2187 gathered himself and fell in with the other ranks, noticing the landing shuttle nearby.

The black Upsilon shuttle's massive wings folded upwards as it landed, the boarding ramp lowering as a figure well known among the First order, from propaganda, strode out. Clearly this mission was of great importance.

Kylo Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren himself, approached the gathered huddle of prisoners. His black mask, lined with imposing grey metallic lined around the eye visor, was cold and menacing in its slate like surfacing, the black robes swirling amidst some stray smoke from a few smouldering hut doorways.

He coldly pointed his finger towards the village elder, as Lor San Tekka was roughly brought forwards before Ren, forced to stand still before the masked male human.

"Look how old you've become."

"Something far worse has happened to you." Tekka retorted, though if it phased Ren, nobody saw it.

"You know what I've come for."

"I know where you come from, before you called yourself Kylo Ren."

"As I'm certain the Old Jedi Master told you before he and his order vanished. But where is the data drive? The First Order knows Skywalker entrusted you with clues to his whereabouts."

"Clues even I cannot fully comprehend. But others can."

"Like the Resistance pilot we tracked to here? The First Order has many spies; it was easy to find out General Organa had a skilful Resistance pilot go in secret to here. The Republic she has ties to isn't as incorruptible as they preach to be."

Lor San Tekka was adamant as he spoke: "The First Order rose from the Dark side, you did not."

"You do not know the Dark side."

"Maybe. But you cannot deny the truth that is your heritage."

"You're so right."

A lightsaber broadsword sprung to life, 1 long red blade with 2 hilt side blades above the handle, as Kylo Ren struck down Lor San Tekka, the two troopers holding him flinching slightly as the blade only sliced diagonally into his torso, but not all the way through it.

* * *

But from a hut roof, a blaster bolt suddenly flew, a lone survivor of the villagers outraged in hiding at their elder being struck down.

His hand flying out, Kylo Ren focused, freezing the blaster bolt midair 10 feet from him, his focus mostly on keeping it stationary, to the stunned looks of the villagers, and the one on the roof nearby.

"Fire!" Phasma ordered swiftly, as a hail of blaster bolts razed the hut's rooftop, the rogue villager falling off the roof onto the ground in a smoking heap.

Slowly walking sideways, Kylo relaxed, and the blaster bolt shot through the air to impact the small carved statue a way's behind him. Amidst the stoic Stormtrooper ranks, the blood covered helmet of FN-2187 hid his trembling face.

"I presumed there wouldn't be any more left to dare fight." Captain Phasma remarked, to which Kylo Ren replied coldly:

"Never presume anything with insurgents. Execute the prisoners."

Turning to stride around the village, searching for any more hiding survivors, Kylo Ren ignored the command from Phasma to ready firing lines.

2 seconds later, the blaster bolts began to fly, though FN-2187 trembled, he was not composed, he didn't fire. The prisoners died before his eyes.

Captain Phasma saw the one trooper who didn't fire, but kept her mouth shut as the prisoners were dealt with. Fire troopers torched huts around them, they would leave nothing standing.

* * *

As the Stormtroopers readied to depart, Kylo Ren mused as he realised that whoever the pilot was, they were still on Jakku. But long gone.

They would be remaining in orbit around the planet for longer than they initially anticipated.

Striding to his shuttle, Kylo sensed hesitation, as he turned his head slightly to see a single Stormtrooper gazing around, a bloody handprint on his helmet.

Their blank helmeted gazed met briefly, and Kylo decided that Stormtrooper would need keeping an eye on. Even so, he sensed Phasma already knew this, and paid it little heed for now.

The black shuttle beckoned ahead, as the First Order finished up on the planet.

* * *

Elsewhere on the planet, the speeder bike raced across the sand dunes, the cool desert night good to use for fast travel. They were dozens of miles from the village, but needed to keep moving.

There were villages, outposts on Jakku, more junk dealers, bound to have a ship he could use to get off world. Poe Dameron knew that the data drive held one of a few keys to finding Luke, and the rumoured selection of Jedi children that vanished with him.

But he was stuck on this planet, and he needed to find a way off, or else he and BB-8 would be lost here if the First Order didn't find them.

The little droid whistled, while Poe gently patted the droid as they sped over another dune in the dark, starlit desert.

* * *

 **I write this story because of my love/hate relationship with Episode 7.**

 **The prequels were flawed in their execution, and if Lucas had someone else direct the actual actors/tweak some spoken dialogue, then I can see the prequels as being more warmly received because the characters came across better. His creativity and overall narrative in the prequels is undeniably ambitious and creative.**

 **I couldn't say the same for Abrams, though his new characters were good, they were deserving of a better Star Wars story.**

* * *

 **Love: New Characters, idea of an Imperial Remnant and of a proxy war type role of the Resistance.**

 **Hate: Way new characters were wasted in service to a mediocre plot that rehashed too many old elements.**

* * *

 **I am writing this, salvaging what parts I can from Force Awakens, using the good new characters made to a more original effect.**

 **The New Republic is not foolishly demilitarized, and has a larger, more spread out fleet, but uses the Resistance to avoid causing an all-out war.**

 **Characters and circumstances in how they meet will be less convenience driven: Han and Chewie show up for a good reason. Finn doesn't defect so quickly. Poe has a more substantial role. Rey's abilities are better fleshed out, Phasma has more of a role, and Kylo Ren's mystery is kept intact more.**

 **The First Order builds up conventional military, and any superweapon plans do not entail a simple death star rehash. Something more creative or useful to them.**

* * *

 **As I said, I am salvaging what parts of Force Awakens I can, and actually this remake will end on a not too dissimilar note to the movie. The story will be different; the way it ends will not necessarily be different in the grand scheme of things.**

 **Biggest changes will be the 'third act', aka no Starkiller base and Rey captured, and it takes place on the planet Luke is found on, along with a hidden Jedi 'class' he also took into exile for safety. More on that later.**

 **Han still dies by Kylo's hand, but the specifics are altered.**


	2. The Scavenger

**Jakku, Starship graveyard**

* * *

Keeping her grapple cable secure, the young woman, clothed in covering but loose grey desert garbs, ripped away the panel.

Dwarfed by the immense surroundings of metal, chasms and the occasional massive platforms that filled this immense shipwreck, she reached in, shifting aside decayed or dust covered wiring to find some more intact parts.

Ripping out the superconductor module, she added it to her slung bag, while she abseiled down to an already open section, recognizing some components there that would increase overall sale price if sold together.

She spent much time in massive shipwrecks like this one, which scarred and littered much of this hemisphere of the planet. 29 years ago, 1 year after the death of the Emperor in the Battle of Endor, after numerous skirmishes, the Imperial Forces and strengthened Rebellion had one last major battle at Jakku, on the surface and in space, and left many wrecks behind.

This Imperial class Star destroyer wreck she salvaged hanger system parts from was one of many massive wrecks yet to be even picked clean.

Getting what she wanted, Rey kicked off from the hanger's ceiling, lowering herself down onto the vast hanger bay floor below. Decades ago, aboard this service ship, imperial force would load and unload, but not anymore.

* * *

Pulling her mask off, swigging a drink of water from her canteen, Rey gave a brief glimpse out over the graveyard of ships, much of the wreckage being from this star destroyer, but others from a few wrecked fighters alongside it.

The sled she used to tow what components she found was quickly loaded, as she pushed and leapt aboard to slide in a fast, but controlled manner down the massive sand dune that had wrought up against the hulking capital ship's wreck over many years.

Down at the bottom of the dune, she pulled the sled along to her waiting speeder bike, a bulky frame that resembled a rounded box of sorts with a seat mounted atop a small engine. Built from scratch from salvaged components, it had reasonable speed, but was meant for hauling heavy cargo for its size inside the box shaped front, and having plenty of range.

Gunning the twin engines after she loaded her salvage, sled and her quarterstaff aboard, Rey made sure her goggles were on as she took off across the sweeping plains.

The silhouette of another star destroyer to her left, a crashed T-65B X-wing fighter to her right, and other ships ranging from TIE fighters and Interceptors, A-wings, even a stripped bare B-wing on one occasion. Many wrecks littered Jakku, and she chose to salvage starships, for the reason of how they were less visited for how far from settlements they often were. Ground vehicle wrecks were often more stripped bare, and she wished to avoid too much conflict with rival scavengers.

For a few hours she rode, the emergence of the odd moisture vaporator hinting that she was nearing her destination: Niima Outpost. A Hutt established market, with the only navigational beacon on the planet to be found, it was the center of scavenger market on the planet.

At last, coming to the markets, she passed by the first few tents, as she paid little heed to the usual bustling amongst the awnings. Unloading her cargo, Rey idly glanced around the outpost, seeing nothing new as usual.

* * *

 **Jakku, Niima Outpost**

Beneath the tarp cover overhead, scavengers cleaned off their finds before they tried to market them off for rations, or potentially greater profits.

Cleaning off the next component in her pile, Rey briefly stopped as she saw the delicacy another older woman demonstrated with her own component cleaning. The human seemed almost smiling, at which Rey wondered what it must be like, actually being content here.

She hadn't lived here her whole life, but she couldn't quite recall clearly living anywhere else. She had been dropped off here long ago, at a young age, and all she recalled of her parent, or parents, was of them leaving aboard a starship.

An alien angrily spoke in its own tongue as it waited, as she'd been lost in thought and wasn't using the cleaning equipment while she had it. Snapping back to reality, Rey began finishing her component cleaning.

She hoped Unkar Plutt would be more pleased with this find. Though he hardly was ever happy with anyone's finds.

* * *

Unkar Plutt, a male Crolute, nicknamed 'blobfish' by less affectionate scavengers, earned a living with a simple trade with those on Jakku. Survival rations in exchange for salvaged gear, which he in turn sold on at a higher price.

Niima the Hutt had run the outpost, set up the beacon, but lost the right when a bounty hunter shot her down. Unkar Plutt had the control of the outpost now, and operated on his own business ideals.

Rey had known him for years, and Plutt had been the barest of guardians to her in her early life, in that he intervened because he didn't want any scavengers under his monopoly at Niima outpost harmed unless they deserved it.

As she became an adult, that guardianship had morphed into what at best could be described as a professional relationship.

* * *

"Hmm, these components are worth… One quarter portion."

As Plutt remarked with a bit of unimpressed scorn, examining one component at a time, Rey's eyes widened slightly, as she protested: "But yesterday these were half a portion!"

"Yes, but today, they're worth a quarter."

Slapping the portion of survival rations on the desk, Plutt gave an expectant look at Rey, who knew there were other scavengers waiting their turn to offer their finds behind her. With a slight sigh, she nodded, and quietly seized the rations off the counter top.

As she walked by, she felt deflated by not getting much today. But anything was better than nothing out here.

* * *

Later that day, as the sun began to set, Rey had taken her rations and used the lot for today to make her meal. Meals were dense in nutrients, to help deal with their infrequency, and the survival ration dough, polystarch was ready to go with what scraps of vegmeat ration strips she had to spare that day once it absorbed its water additive.

Sat outside, she had donned a slightly rusted Rebel helmet she had salvaged for personal effects, and sat outside as she finished her meal, staring out at the sunset lit dunes.

The All-Terrain-Armoured-Transport wreck that was her home lay on its side, its troop compartment converted to her hovel, the exterior coated in sand. But as she stared ahead, munching on a vegmeat strip, she looked slightly forlornly at a departing ship from Niima outpost, likely one of Unkar Plutt's lackeys going off with salvage to sell on bigger markets off world.

Just like the ship her parents, whoever they were, had left on, leaving her in Unkar Plutt's less than affectionate care years ago. It was hard, but it was home, and she had to stay, as all she knew was that whoever left her here, they vaguely remarked that they'd meet again. It was best she remained here.

* * *

 **Jakku orbit, Finalizer Star destroyer**

* * *

FN-2187 was sweating slightly, as anyone in his unit might be if called personally into their captain's office alone. His equipment and helmet had been cleaned since yesterday, but he still felt 2003's bloody hand-print on his helmet, like a ghostly presence.

Captain Phasma stood with a report holopad in hand, her own chrome grey helmet masking her face just as much as his own did. But the tall woman was imposing for her rank, not her stature.

"FN-2187. You are aware of the report I received, that your blaster was not malfunctioning during your failure to shoot the prisoners like the others, as was presumed given your retaliation against FN-2003's killer."

"Yes Ma'am."

Phasma was quiet, as she put down the holopad, regarding 2187 with her usual unreadable demeanor, even by her body language. She remarked with a somewhat tired expression, though with a mild amount of reprimand in her tone too:

"This is not the first time you have displayed hesitation for orders given. If you were not such a competent soldier enough to be in my FN corps, you would have been sent for reconditioning and stationed elsewhere already."

FN-2187 gulped slightly, as he replied: "I understand ma'am."

Phasma replied coolly: "You also have a commendable devotion to your fellow soldiers, putting their own lives before that of the greater objective in many training missions. But, the First Order is only as good as its weakest link. FN-2003 may have been a partner in your unit, and a comrade to you, but you know he had to stand on his own feet or be cast aside for the greatness of the Order you serve to flourish. All troopers are valuable, but only those that prove themselves as worth the effort by their results."

FN-2187 was silent, as Phasma directed him to the door: "You have great potential, or else I would not have taken you into my FN corps. But this is your final warning. Hesitation won't be tolerated for too long, and you are testing the leniency of the First Order with your lack of devotion, and such talent would be wasted if you need to be reconditioned. I expect better. Dismissed."

2187 saluted, as he exited the door to leave his Captain's office.

Walking through the hallway, as a pair of Stormtroopers, a male and female younger trooper each, walked past on standard patrols, 2187 looked forward to his downtime coming up to clear his head.

* * *

Sat inside his personal quarters, a small bunk room, FN-2187 lifted off his helmet, putting a hand to his dark skinned head as he breathed deeply.

In groups of four, he and FN-2003 had made up half of one quad of close knit brothers, not by blood but by experience, like many Stormtroopers raised from birth.

The bunk on top of his own would not be filled, as a new soldier couldn't slip into a cohesive unit as easily.

He was glad FN-2000 and FN-2199 were off in the rec room, he didn't want his brothers in here as he composed himself in his downtime.

* * *

 **Finalizer bridge**

Kylo Ren gazed at the monitor screens before him, as he scanned the readouts being given by frequent life-form scans of Jakku.

"You couldn't detect him before he got too close to the settlement?"

His question was directed at the nearby General, and overall commanding officer of the ship, second to Kylo Ren in rank, and leader of the naval forces. General Hux, the narrow faced, stern, devout and bright haired leader cast an imposing figure despite his youthful looking face.

"Our scans weren't running in time to detect him alone, and given the spread out nature of the scavenger settlements across Jakku, he could be anywhere among them."

"I trust you have at least begun monitoring outbound communications to other systems, instead of simply making excuses." Kylo remarked, the tone of sarcasm only vaguely evident in his voice. Hux gave a small retorting smile, as he nodded with the statement:

"The only communications able to reach out of the system is in the Niima outpost. If he is heading anywhere it will be there."

"Maintain your watch of any ships leaving the planet or outbound communications. I want nothing leaving the planet without being aware of its nature."

General Hux gave a swift nod as Kylo Ren strode off, back to his quarters he presumed. Hux scowled slightly at the man's presumption that he couldn't do the job common sense in the military said to do.

* * *

 **Jakku, Niima outpost outskirts**

* * *

Parking the speeder bike atop the sand dune ridge, Poe gave a pant of relief as he saw the moisture vaporator nearby. A sign of civilization.

But the bike was in poor condition, it wasn't designed to be pushed as hard as he had, especially given its age, the hike was older than he was.

He took it slow, knowing he had to nurse the bike to the settlement, its repulsorlifts shuddering and fluctuating from time to time. On the back, BB-8 beeped excitedly as Poe gave a knowing smile back to the droid:

"I know buddy, they'll have comms array, or even a ship to spare, as long as its fast. Just hope they don't want payment immediately."

Swooping over the sand dunes, Poe turned around a particularly big dune to suddenly stop, as a cybernetic implanted Luggabeast groaned as its short alien rider, clad in a pointed helmet, goggles and grey overalls, angrily spoke in his tongue at the pilot.

"Okay okay! Sorry, I just, didn't see you."

The rider, a male Teedo, then eyed up the speeder bike, quickly casting a hidden disapproving look over it. But as he saw the tattered flight jacket, he gained a vague interest. Finally, the droid drew his gaze.

He garbled in his tongue, pointing a stick excitedly at BB-8, who squeaked indignantly in response.

"Hey, no he's not-AHH!"

Poe suddenly felt a small electro shock, as the Teedo had suddenly lashed out with his staff, a salvaged imperial weapon, stun him to fall off the bike in pain. The Luggabeast turned on Teedo's orders, as he closed in on the speeder bike, a net thrown out to capture the droid before he could even move, the droid squealing loudly while Poe moaned in pain on the sand nearby.

* * *

Rey was still sat outside her AT-AT home/wreck, disappointed at the day's take, watching the planet's yellow sun set, knew her stomach still felt empty with what parts of her quarter rations she earned that day barely filling it. But hunger was a usual thing on Jakku.

However, the electronic squealing she heard from over a dune ridge wasn't usual.

Jumping up, Rey grabbed her quarter staff as she ran across the sand dunes, towards the commotion.

* * *

The familiar sight of the scum Teedo was not pleasant to Rey, but the BB droid unit caught in his net as he tried to hoist the protesting droid aboard was not. Nearby, a speeder bike, or a barely functioning one, lay collapsed on the ground, its repulsorlifts having finally given out. A male human pilot lay nearby, not dead, but unconscious.

"Teedo!"

Rey's shout caught the short alien's attention, as Rey stormed up with her quarter staff in hand, holding it out to Teedo in attack as she angrily warded him off:

"That's not yours to take!"

The alien angrily replied, his electro staff end lighting up in electricity in threat, but Rey swiftly tapped the end out of the way to quickly show she knew how to handle her own better. Silently, fuming under his breath, Teedo did nothing as Rey released BB-8 from the netting.

Grumbling, while Rey glared to ensure Teedo cleared off, the alien ordered his Luggabeast to lumber slowly away.

Groaning, Poe came to as Rey had checked his forehead while lying down, BB-8 rolling up to check him.

"You're lucky I was here, Teedo would've taken your droid and left you here with your wreck."

"Yeah, thanks for the help by the way."

Rey merely nodded, as she began to walk off back in the direction she came. Poe turned back to look at his speeder bike, seeing the systems fully fried now after one too many shutdowns. BB whistled aloud, which Poe understood as Rey also did:

"No."

"C'mon, just a bit of help, like my buddy said." Poe asked, standing up unsteadily as he recovered from the electro staff shock.

Rey regarded Poe with suspicion, before she then looked at the droid, who was clearly putting on a better show of garnering what little sympathy she seemed to have. After a few moments, she jerked her head in the direction she was walking, a look of resignation on her face.

"Great!" Poe remarked, as he began to jog to keep up, as BB-8 raced on ahead to wheel beside Rey, Poe behind her.

"One night. I don't have much to spare anyway."

Poe knew he had supplies to eat from the bike, but for now he'd take this young woman's hospitality. A full planet day to try and evade the First Order, still in orbit, would help his chances perhaps.

"You aren't a scavenger, what were you doing all the way out here?" Rey asked. Poe kept quiet, as he shared a look with BB-8 briefly, wondering if it would be wise to reveal their secret mission.

"Lost my ship, borrowed a speeder from a local to come here. Does the nearby place have a comms array? Or maybe a ship?"

"If you can afford a ship or have the money or tech to use Plutt's array." Rey remarked, as they walked on.

The scavenger, droid and pilot headed over the ridge, towards their wrecked walker home for that night.

* * *

 **Rey's backstory is unchanged, or what backstory I have garnered from the material in film and around it.**

 **I am giving a greater Finn/Phasma dynamic, as the FN corps he is a part of are relatively elite among the FO, but the movie didn't show Finn had the skills that would make him a candidate.**

 **FN-2199 is also known as the baton wielding TR-8R Stormtrooper, which is why in the movie he so violently yells traitor out loud. But we'll get to him in time.**

 **Finn will defect later, and more believably, in the story. For now, we also get more Poe, accompanying BB-8, who have the run in with Teedo from which Rey saves them. Teedo struck me as the sort who would rob blind a barely equipped traveller of a droid that looked valuable and well kept.**

* * *

 **Next chapter will cover the Jakku escape, which will play out differently in many respects to how the movie did.**

* * *

 **Reviews are welcomed, as this was a passion project, even among my other fanfictions, and my first Star Wars project.**


	3. Jakku Escape

**Jakku, Niima outpost**

* * *

The next day hadn't come soon enough, Poe felt a strong desire to be off this planet as soon as possible, knowing full well the First Order was too close for his liking.

Rey on the other hand, while she tolerated them in her small home that night, had slowly become deeply inquisitive about Poe and BB-8's reasons for being out here the moment he let slip even a tiny detail about his purpose.

"So you are with the resistance then?"

"Yes, now are you sure that comms array will work with BB-8?"

"I checked him, he has the ports to patch in directly, but you won't have long. Plutt hates anyone using it for an off-world broadcast without permission."

As Poe worked on the message, using a very small device to code the short message, Rey saw BB looking around the outpost, clearly aware of the hungry eyes looking at the droid. But some of those eyes recognized Rey by their friend's words.

* * *

On a sand dune crest a half mile from the outpost, a set of electro binoculars used by one trooper confirmed it. The pilot, and a BB unit. Just like the one the scorched remains of the X-wing found in the village had a socket to take.

But the girl, she clearly was aiding them. She may have asked, that possibility meant she was just as much needed.

The small Stormtrooper company made the call, while they moved in on foot. Fighter support to prevent any escape was on route, but they were needed alive.

* * *

Looking around, Poe gently whispered to BB to hurry, the little droid whistling back in a retort as the small socket plugged from the droid's lower ball shape into the comms array, quickly uploading the message. A call for the backup plan, as fast as possible.

Trying to appear casual, the pilot quickly scooted BB-8 away from the array, the droid whistling rudely as he disconnected before that happened. The droid then suddenly whistled out loud, alarmed at something happening ahead amid some awnings.

Unkar Plutt eyed them from afar, but also couldn't help but notice Rey fighting amid some friends of Teedo's, bigger than she was slightly, but not skilled it seemed.

The droid looked valuable, but belonged to that man that Rey had come with.

But the sight of some First Order Stormtroopers entering the outskirts of the outpost, as his shack saw all around, distracted him.

* * *

Angrily lashing out her quarterstaff, Rey smashed the burly human trying to pin her down across the jaw, retribution from Teedo likely for taking his droid prize yesterday.

Spinning around, she whacked another in the head, before thrusting the body of the staff into the second human's forehead, flooring him before turned to quickly drive her elbow and her staff end into the gut of the attacking, burly lizard alien in similar clothing attacking her. Hot and bothered in the heat and at this annoying attack by that weed Teedo, Rey smashed the underside of her staff upwards in an arc, sending the alien reeling backwards to collapse on his back, writhing in pain as Rey took a few breaths, walking past while giving one of the humans a swift kick to the thigh as she passed.

Poe walked up briskly, BB-8 whistling its apparent praise of her, to which he didn't deny:

"Nice work."

"Thugs aren't rare, learning to defend is needed."

As Poe gestured to a nearby awning to take shelter under, Poe remarked: "So why not leave?"

"I'm waiting for someone, if I go, I might miss them coming back for me."

"Big galaxy, why drop you off here of all places?" Poe wondered. Rey remarked blankly as she dismissed this:

"I don't know, but they did. Life works that way, so I'll wait like they said to."

"Fair enough. But I won't be here long, not if the message got-."

Poe suddenly cut off, as he stared at a familiar white armor on a pair of troopers entering from the outpost's speeder parking area. BB-8 whistled loudly in alarm as it saw them too, while Rey also noticed too.

A very faint shout came: "There they are, with the droid!"

Rey suddenly felt a hand clamp down on her wrist, as Poe rushed off with her in tow, despite her protests:

"What are you doing!"  
"Saving you, they're after us both!"

Wrestling her hand from Poe's, as BB-8 rushed past with him, Rey remarked: "No, let go, and follow me!"

* * *

Seeing Rey rush through some awning tents amidst the outpost's structures, Poe gave a quick look back as the Stormtroopers were coming closer to where they had been, they had lost sight of them amidst the awnings and structures for now. As BB followed Rey, Poe did too, the awnings and cloaks doing much to hide them from view.

Some scavengers protested as Rey rushed through, weaving through the cleaning stations and junk piles with a BB unit and a man in tow, before she made them stop and hunker down low in the stall they found.

"Why are they after you?" Rey whispered.

"They want something I have, and I guess because they saw you with me and BB-8.." Poe trailed off, as Rey nodded grimly:

"They want me too."

"Yeah, I guess you're just as popular with the order as I am now."

"So much for your help coming before they get here." Rey remarked, at which point, Poe asked in his whisper, as he saw the Stormtroopers looking amid the markets frantically, though alarmingly he saw a few scavengers pointing in their stall's direction.

Over by the patrol, a Stormtrooper made the call: "Air support, we need this place covered."

As Poe saw the Stormtrooper speak indecipherable into his wrist comm, Poe asked Rey: "Are there any working ships we could use?"

"Yes, there's one I worked on for Plutt. Quad Jumper on the edge of the… What is that noise?"

* * *

Rey cut herself off as she heard a strange noise in the air. BB heard it too, abut after a few moments, he whistled nervously, while Poe recognized the noise as that of the ionized engines of the First Order fighters.

* * *

"Run!" Poe called quickly, as he dragged Rey off her feet, while she protested before running to keep up, yanking her hand as she did so: "I can run myself!"

BB squealed as he wheeled after them, while the Stormtroopers hung back, having sighted them. Scavengers took cover as a few stray blasts of stun fire from their rifles flew in their general direction, but stopped as the noise and silhouette of a TIE fighter screamed overhead.

Rushing through the markets, the air filled with burning and hissing, muffled noise in Poe's ears as a strafing run from the TIE fighter mowed down a market tent line they'd been running past, the blast knocking Poe onto his front as the shockwave hit him, while BB stopped in his tracks as the smoke rose to obscure them for now.

Ahead, caught less in the blast, Rey quickly held her hand out to Poe, who gladly took it to begin sprinting, keeping up with her and BB-8, as she led the way as fast as they could to the edge of the outpost, the TIE fighters screaming overhead to make one more strafing run on the tent markets and structures.

Muscles aching, the Quadjumper beckoned ahead, to which Poe screamed as they ran up to it: "What am I supposed to do with that!?"

"Fly it!"

"CAN IT FLY!?"

"Yes, it flies!"

"I can work with that!" Poe yelled, as he tore inside the rear hatch of the quad engine craft, the cabin nestled in between the four large engine and system pods. Plutt intended to use it to open up a salvage program in space around Jakku, where debris from the battle 30 years prior still orbited. Many things were changing today on Jakku.

BB-8 rolled up the ramp, as Rey sealed the hatch shut, seeing the two Stormtroopers, and a few more coming from outside the compound, heading for them.

The engines sputtered to life, the dust swirling around them as the 4 thrusters roared to life, the freight tug craft kept in working order for sale to the dealer.

A few shots hit some of the jumper's engines in harmless grazes as Poe yelled back:

"Better strap in!"

As Rey got into the seat just behind Poe, one of seats, and BB nestled into the rear crew cabin, the Quad Jumper quickly took off low and at speed.

* * *

On the ground, as hollers from the Stormtroopers to the air covering TIEs went into their comms, Unkar Plutt stormed out to see his next big buy soaring across the skies, some TIE fighters peeling off to pursue it.

"Hey! That's mine!"

That girl, Rey, was behind this. No history with her made this right, he swore it.

* * *

 **Starship graveyard**

Spiraling, flying low against the sand dunes, Poe knew he wasn't going anywhere with those TIEs on his tail. But something was off, the TIEs were being sparing with their shooting.

"Hey, it could be worse, they could be shooting to kill!" Poe yelled back, as he backed around another sand dune, some green laser fire ripping into the sand as his manoeuvres, straining the Quadjumper to its limits, evaded what hesitant fire the TIE fighters unleashed at him.

"Why aren't they?" Rey asked, as Poe gunned the engines for a bit of distance while the TIEs swooped back around to have a clearer shot:

"They want us alive for questioning, and I don't plan on letting them take me or dying today!"

"But this ship isn't armed!"

"Yeah I noticed!"

BB-8's panicked screech from the passenger cabin came as if hearing this, before Rey had an idea:

"I know where you can lose these two, head north!"

"I'll trust you on this!" Poe replied, as he arced the ship around to head north. Up ahead, the first signs of starship wrecks came into view.

A TIE fighter slowed down to match their sped, arcing down low over a dune to tail them close, the other hanging back to cover from afar.

"Watch this!" Poe remarked, while Rey's hands clenched the control panel to white amounts as he dove low to the sands, heading straight for a large upright wall, part of a star destroyer's hull embedded in the dunes that rose a hundred meters above them.

The TIE screamed behind them as its pilot lined up a shot to disable one engine, to force the pilot down. The Quadjumper accelerated, and banked smoothly right, forcing the pilot to bank in turn.

But then the Quadjumper arced hard left, nearly grazing the massive upright armor wall as it roared past. The TIE fighter was agile, but its pilot hadn't reacted fast enough, and clipped the massive wall of metal to spin uncontrollable to a crash landing, the pilot ejecting and being covered in landing airbags while the TIE fighter tore apart on the sandy dunes.

* * *

Scavengers flocked from a few hiding places as the fighter ground to a halt, while the second TIE fighter screamed in from overhead, giving chase as the Quadjumper roared towards the same Star Destroyer hulk that Rey had been scavenging not just yesterday.

"In there!"

"Okay, going in!"

Rey held on as Poe dove them into the star destroyer, the Quadjumper roaring as it spun it to rocket into the vast cavity one of the ship's main engines once occupied. The TIE followed quickly, hesitating to fire amidst the suddenly now confined spaces.

Ducking and weaving through the massive wreck, Poe suddenly saw Rey yell as if she had been struck suddenly wrenching over to yank the control stick left:

"Out there!"

The Quadjumper veered suddenly, barely missing the hole's edge as it grazed through, gunning the engines hard as Rey also hit the thrusters to full, screaming out across the desert wastes. The TIE, its pilot very skilled, tore out of the same hole, lining up a shot for the vital engines in the now clearer skies.

"Hey, I'm the one flying!"

"Just hit full reverse when I say!" Rey bellowed, as she silenced Poe. Veering left, Rey took them into a small canyon, weaving low as she somehow sensed the TIE was determined to get close.

In the cabin, BB-8 screeched indignantly as it shot out cables to secure itself, visible as it swayed into the pilot cockpit on one tether, at which Poe cast an alarmed look back as he then gazed out to the front.

* * *

Rey felt it, the feelings she sometimes had that made her act on impulse, but not ones brought on by emotion as she knew it.

A nagging feeling in the back of her head, warning her, compelling her.

* * *

The TIE screeched in the air, the pilot seeing the Quad jumper suddenly veer upwards into what seemed like a standstill, its rear engines exposed to the TIE pilot as he lined up the shot.

"NOW!" Rey yelled, at which Poe gunned the full reverse, right as a set of green lasers tore through the air just below them, the full reverse thrust soaring them backwards at the TIE.

Veering down, the TIE pilot avoided the seemingly suicidal pilots, but saw his mistake. Hid veering down move plunged the TIE headlong into a nearby canyon face, which the now slower moving Quadjumper soared up and over, as Rey finally gave controls back to Poe.

"How did you know that would work!?" Poe exclaimed, surprise glowing on his face as BB-8 whistled in triumph, the droid rolling as the ship finally seemed to stop shaking, the thrusters firing to take them into orbit as fast as possible while the First Order's star destroyer was still on the other side of the planet.

"I just, did, I don't really know how to explain it." Rey replied slowly, as she hadn't felt a feeling like that one before in her life.

As the ship flew rapidly into the space above Jakku, Poe heard BB-8 tap into the ship's comms, opening up any channels it could find. On the scans, signals of a few fighters deploying from the Finalizer, on the planet's other side for now, were already on the way.

"C'mon BB, any word on help coming?"

Squeaking, BB was analyzing a message that had been sent.

"We can't stay here long; they could be here soon."

BB-8 beeped excitedly all of a sudden, as the droid had a fix on a signal coming out of hyperspace within their range. It would be close.

"BB has something, your help maybe?" Rey asked, excited at the prospect of finally, maybe, being out of danger. Poe saw the readout, and went to full thrust to get to those coordinates above Jakku, before the TIEs got in range.

* * *

 **Finalizer bridge**

* * *

"Fighters converging on the stolen freighter, 4 minutes out, we'll be in tractor beam range within 10." The officer spoke her readouts aloud to General Hux, who stared out the viewport with some mild glee. How fitting it would be he, not Ren, who claimed this victory.

"Excellent, don't let them escape."

"Unknown ship coming out of hyperspace near the freighter sir." A sudden call from a technician came up, as Hux snapped his head in the direction, alert at news of this newcomer.

* * *

Coming up on the coordinates, the barely visible specks that were the incoming TIE fighters drew closer, and Rey swore she could see a barely visible pointed shape of a star destroyer far in the distance near the planet's curvature.

"Where's that ship?" Poe asked, as he too was waiting on bated breath.

A flash of grey flew by their viewport, as a rusty looking YT-1300 freighter flew by with its underside facing the incoming TIEs, a dorsal gun platform firing the quad lasers at the TIEs, clipping one's solar array wing to send it spinning, as the other peeled off to get a better angle on this new ship.

Their Quadjumper rumbled as the rusted freighter locked onto them with its starboard side docking port. And ahead, as their ship was pivoted around in space, facing the blackness, Poe gave a hoot of relief, as Rey saw the stars stretch on infinitely, their conjoined ships entering hyperspace using the ship's hyperdrive together.

* * *

 **Finalizer, bridge**

* * *

General Hux wished Kylo Ren had not been here to see that, the dark clothed man having come in a minute ago hearing of the impending capture. And yet there was no snark, no degrading comment, from the black robed man.

He stared at the scan readouts, showing the image of the YT-1300 freighter, deep in his own thoughts.

"So Organa is desperate enough to need his help…"

Hux saw Kylo turn around and left without another word, as Hux took the initiative here:

"Track their ship. We can't lose them."

Boiling under his uniform with indignation, General Hux didn't want to even think of what this failure might mean for them if the Supreme Leader felt it was grave enough.

* * *

 **Millennium** **Falcon**

The Quadjumper now was attached to the Falcon in hyperspace, but the hatch only now just opened to reveal the pilot and co-pilot, the latter of whom had been at the gunning station.

"You got yourself into a heap of trouble if Leia asked me to come get you out."

"When she said she had a fast ship waiting just in case, I wasn't expecting Han Solo." Poe admitted, having heard enough about this ship from tales. Rey suddenly became excited at this, as she exclaimed:

"You're Han Solo? This is the Millennium Falcon!?"

Nearby, Chewie roared slightly at this, to which Rey and Poe both had odd looks, and BB-8 wheeled by into the more spacious ship with a beep. Han turned to her, asking outright:

"Got the message about a witness. She gonna be much trouble?"

"Rey helped me a few times, she's alright." Poe offered, smiling slightly as Rey moved past him, into the Falcon's more spacious quarters, his smile fading slightly.

Han offered a little advice as Rey wandered past, while Chewie bent down to look at BB-8 with curiosity, the droid beeping angrily as the Wookie tapped his ball, making Rey smirk slightly.

"Take my advice now, don't get involved if they're as cold as that from first meeting."

Poe gave Han an odd look as the smuggler wandered into the cockpit, while Rey gave him a curious stare as he vanished around the corner.

For now, the ship coasted through hyperspace, the Quadjumper still attached.

* * *

 **No more Han and Chewie just happening to be there, and they still have the Falcon. And the Quadjumper gets more than just blown up with no show of its own, though it barely accomplishes what the Falcon could easily do, with no weapons and Poe/Rey mixed at the controls.**

 **Meanwhile, Kylo actually sees the Falcon, which if on screen wouldn't be an audience exposition dump scene.**

 **More on the upcoming events later, but as said, here is where the plot diverges from the movie.**

* * *

 **Review/critique if you wish.**


	4. Takodana station

**Millennium** **Falcon, interstellar space**

Checking the systems over once again, Han grumbled under his breath as Chewie growled to him in reply, nodding to the readouts.

"Yeah I know. We'll get rid of it when we find a market, maybe this favor will give us some pay."

Looking out, Han pulled the lever, as the Millennium falcon dropped out of hyperspace, not inside any particular star system, just drifting for now, the Quadjumper still attached for now.

Back in the ship's passenger area, BB-8 had hooked into the Falcon to upload the contents of the drive Lor San Tekka had given Poe, so they could get a better look at the information.

"So you are from the Resistance then. You aren't like what I thought one would be." Rey remarked offhandedly, as she had finished soldering some wire connections in the Falcon's uplink drives so they would work with BB-8. The ship was old, but if worked on slightly, could do many things.

BB-8 chirped in good humor as it turned its little head to Poe, while Rey handed the drive to BB-8, the wiring in place to unlock the encrypted drive. Poe gave a casual remark as he admitted: "I'm kind of different among the resistance, General Organa wanted the best pilot for the job, doesn't mean I'm like a normal pilot."

Han walked in, hearing this remark, gruffly asking the two of them:

"Don't let your ego get too big, the Falcon's not spacious enough if it does. And what are you doing?"

As soon as Han finished asking, with Chewie striding up behind him, BB-8 beeped loudly as the holo-display came up. A hologram of the galaxy map, a rather basic one, with most of the stars unmarked save for a few. The Aurabesh language indicated only a few planets by name, including one that had been highlighted a specific orange compared to the other blue ones.

"This must be it, directions to who Lor San Tekka said knows where Luke Skywalker is."

At Poe's breathless remark, Rey turned her head, in some degree of awe at this legend: "He's real? I thought he was a myth."

"He might as well be, he's been gone for years, nobody's seen him." Han remarked distantly, as he looked over the map. Curious, as neither she nor Poe knew the details, Rey asked:

"You knew Luke Skywalker?"

"Yeah. I knew him, great friend, Jedi. I didn't believe any of that space magic when I first heard of it, but after what I went through with him…"

"What happened to him exactly?" Poe asked, while Chewbacca groaned very slightly as if he too knew the story. Han gave a slight sigh, as he continued to look over the map to hide a slight pain coming over his face:

"After the Empire went into hiding, the New Republic came up, and Luke wanted the Jedi back to help keep peace. He was training a new generation of Jedi, but one of them, an apprentice, he was turned against them, the Supreme Leader of the First Order turned him, he killed a lot of them. Luke blamed himself, he said he would make sure it couldn't happen again. He went into hiding, him and a number of young Jedi who he felt needed training still, he made slightly older ones go into hiding."

"He protected them. I wasn't told that." Poe realized, at which Han nodded, before he remarked:

"But his sister, General Organa, felt the Jedi returning could help unite the Republic, get them to wake up to the threat the Order had been allowed to grow to. The Order has lots of spies, they want Luke and the Jedi exterminated."

"That's why they're following us, me, because I might know anything." Rey gave an aggravated groan as she realized the full truth. She wasn't going to be able to go back to Jakku, not safely at least.

Poe offered a small gesture to the map: "Well, you're tied up in this. May as well see where we're headed."

Rey said nothing, as she looked over the Star map, looking at the system names that had been marked for reference to the new red one, not too far from Jakku it turned out.

"Corellia, Coruscant, Hosnian Prime.."

"Republic worlds." Poe remarked, as he then looked down at the red marked system:

"Takodana. Never heard of that system before."

Han recalled the name, as he whispered under his breath: "Of course. Her."

"Who?" Rey asked, while Chewbacca suddenly gave a throaty laugh as Han remarked:

"Big stop off world between western reaches and inner rim. Luke had a key contact there when he was rebuilding the Jedi, been there longer than any of us have lived."

"So what are we waiting for?" Poe remarked, while Chewie growled in response, as Han remarked:

"Hope you know what you're getting in for going there. We'll have to make a stop on the orbiting station first, nobody sees Mas Kenada on the surface without her knowing who beforehand."

Chewbacca then walked by to the cockpit, growling as he reminded Han:

"Yeah thanks for reminding me. If you two want me to be as helpful as you can, make sure that ship you stole is still working fine. Might as well try and sell it quick while we're there. I don't wanna be hauling that junk around if we get ambushed."

Poe saw Rey stand up, as she spoke to him with her head nodding to the docking tube:

"I'll fix it up."

BB-8 then beeped suddenly, nudging Rey's leg to get her attention:

"Fine. You can help me."

* * *

Watching Rey leave through the docking tube with BB-8 in tow, Poe walked over to where Han had suddenly gestured to come:

"Okay hot shot, I need you to check weapons, don't wanna be caught half charged if some bounties have been placed on our heads by the Order."

"I'd be surprised if we didn't already." Poe remarked jokingly, while Han murmured meanwhile: "Wouldn't be the first bounty on mine."

Opening the gun locker, Poe grabbed the largest gun, a bowcaster, before Han stopped him suddenly:

"Ah, not that one! Chewie doesn't like other people touching that."

Blinking slightly, Poe slowly put the bowcaster back in the locker, as he pulled out one of the smaller pistols first in his weapon checking, while Han walked off back into the Cockpit.

* * *

Inside the Quadjumper, Rey tinkered with the wiring, making sure the Quadjumper's systems were in prime condition. If Plutt could get his hands on her she didn't like to think what he'd do for helping steal his biggest investment at that moment.

A particularly small compartment was hard for Rey to get into, as she stubbornly tried to remove the panel without damaging it, grimacing as she couldn't quite reach the wire inside, a blown sensor array wire that while non-critical, would decrease value.

Beside her, BB-8 beeped quietly as it extended a small grappling rod, nudging Rey slightly as she turned to look at the little droid, who merely beeped while turning to the panel opening, then back to her.

Slowly moving aside, Rey let BB get his smaller appendage into the panel, pulling the wire out for her to clamp back into place and re-solder it together. The owner of the Quadjumper before Plutt had been a small handed alien it seemed, as this ship still had hatches for smaller races.

Letting the repaired wire go, Rey saw BB-8 beep rather happily at her, at which Rey couldn't help but give a small smile. She wasn't used to help:

"Thank you."

With a small nod on his ball, BB-8 then looked to another panel that had systems to inspect, as Rey began reaching inside with her hand and a torch, checking everything over.

* * *

 **Finalizer Star Destroyer, interstellar space**

* * *

 **Bridge**

The slightly blue hued hologram rose life sized above the holo-display, the sight of the figure on the throne striking silence into the room as he spoke.

Sat on an obsidian looking throne, the lithe, robed figure of Supreme Leader Snoke

The alien leader of the First Order had a sunken face, pale skinned, with a rounded, crooked set of ears, and wrinkles adorning his sunken cheeks in ways not just age would do. The left side of his face sagged around the eye, a result of a burn scar long endured and healed from, as he also held a long scar embedded into his skull that ran up and along his forehead. He had great age, wisdom, and cunning. He had seen the Empire rise and fall, but distanced himself from the dark side rampant rule used then.

Snoke knew that for the First order to flourish, new ways of acquiring power were needed, and for that, he bided his time, forming the First Order from the scattered remnants of the Empire that fled to the unknown regions.

* * *

As Kylo Ren listened intently to his master, General Hux remained respectfully quiet as Snoke finished their discussion:

"Our spies have reported that they have not fled to Republic space, they are still hiding."

"We have already placed a bounty on their heads. We have scum across the galaxy looking for them, they will not remain hidden for long." General Hux remarked, taking some pride in the initiative he had taken. Snoke nodded slowly, as he then looked between Hux and Kylo Ren, speaking slowly:

"Go, prepare your troops. Wherever they go, they must be swiftly captured. Extract any information they have." He turned to Kylo as he said the last part, to which the black masked man remarked smoothly:

"They won't be able to resist me." Kylo remarked. General Hux then gave a quick bow, as he pointed out:

"Shall I arrange for an advance strike team? If we are to ambush them, it is best to give them a false sense of security before reinforcements arrive."

"Go, select what forces best serve the mission." Snoke waved his hand, to which General Hux gave another swift bow, walking away out of the comms room without a second's pause.

* * *

Left in the room with the holo-display of his throne sat master, Kylo Ren was quiet as Snoke began to speak in a stern, brooding manner:

"I sense turmoil in you, Kylo Ren."

"Anticipation, that is all. We are close to finally finishing what the Empire started. What Lord Vader and the Emperor failed to do. What I failed to do."

"Do not let your feelings cloud your judgement, the greatest victories come with shortfalls along the way. You know what fate must befall those aboard the Millennium Falcon, if we are to ensure that Order can return to the galaxy."

"Yes. They will fall before my power, them and the Jedi we seek."

"Find them swiftly, before the Republic, and their annoyance of a Resistance, can salvage them to rally behind."

Snoke vanished from the holo-table, leaving Kylo Ren to stare at the empty space deep in his own thoughts.

* * *

 **Finalizer, hanger bay**

"FN corps, you are among the Order's finest, and we have been selected for this crucial mission, to find these spies who have acquired information that the Resistance would gladly use to their advantage, information that poses a threat to stability in the galaxy that we seek to enforce. We will capture these spies, and once interrogated, they shall be made examples of!"

Captain Phasma barked the orders to the FN corps gathered in the hanger bay, a few hyperdrive capable Upsilon shuttles, like the black coated one used by Kylo Ren, sat waiting for them. This would be a long distance drop off, with the Finalizer waiting behind as backup in interstellar space.

Looking over the crowds, Phasma had selected her troops well, as General Hux insisted on her skillful platoons. She knew of one recruit in the crowd who could use reminding, but this went for all of them.

"This mission is of utmost importance, a privilege. Consider it a chance to prove your loyalty to the Order forever. Show no mercy to its enemies who would oppose us. We await the command, return to your posts until the order is given."

As the troopers fell out of the ranks at Phasma's command, a troop among them, FN-2187, couldn't help but feel Phasma's eyes boring into his skull from beneath her chrome covered helmet. Beside him, FN-2199 nudged him, gruffly speaking:

"Keep focused 87, no Slip in our squad for you to have to hold his hand anymore."

"Yeah." 2187 remarked, as he kept pace with his squad-mate, walking to their standard training practice for now, amidst the ranks of other faceless Stormtroopers of varying heights, but all the same armor, in the starship's hanger linked corridors.

* * *

 **Takodana orbit**

* * *

 **Takodana station**

Being a trade hub planet, and considering many of the wealthier or longer settled residents owned much of the planet, the majority of actual business took place around Takodana, not on it.

But everybody went through Takodana station if they wished to get to the planet surface without being shot at, let alone for Mas Kenada to speak to.

Approaching the station, the Falcon sluggish as it still had the Quadjumper linked to its docking port, the freighter lined up with a docking tube that extended to hook into the unused docking port on the Falcon's other side.

The ship rumbled as Han shut off the engines, while Chewbacca finished the system power downs otherwise, though Han reminded the Wookie, who nodded in agreement:

"Better keep the ship not fully shut down. Don't want to be slow if we need to get out of here."

Over the comms, Rey had taken command of the Quadjumper as she maneuvered it to dock with the docking tube right next to the one the Millennium Falcon was attached to, the 4 engines freight tug moving easily over the few dozen metres to the port with her at the controls.

Inside, as the docking port clamped onto the back of the ship, Rey shut the engines down. This ship they were leaving behind, sold or not. In the passenger seat, BB-8 and Poe began getting the hatch open, as Rey made sure the ship was still fine.

* * *

The inside of the station was grimy, functional, and filled with many narrow corridors and the occasional buzzing of an old intercom. Dirty vendors flogged their wares, be it food, equipment or otherwise, in a small enclosed market line, as Rey gazed around it a mixture of awe, and perhaps revulsion in some cases at the diversity of creatures and races in this junction station. It really was the jumping point between the core areas and the western regions.

"You, with me. You and the droid have copies each, best not to have both in one place." Han pointed to Poe, while BB-8 beeped indignantly. Looking to the wookie, Han remarked:

"Keep an eye on the girl and the droid, see if you can pawn off their ship so we make money while we're here."

Chewbacca growled in agreement, while Rey gave Han an irritated look, before he handed her a blaster:

"Might wanna take this, this place is dangerous for, well, anyone."

"I can handle myself." Rey stressed, to which Poe offered to Han:

"She certainly can." BB-8 whistled at this, before Han then shoved the blaster pistol into her hand:

"That's why I'm giving this to you. Know how to use one?"

"Point and shoot." Rey offered, before Han tapped the blaster with his finger slightly in her grip:

"Safety off before any of that."

With that, Han began to walk away with Poe in tow, while BB-8 looked on as Poe went on with the smuggler to wherever their contact was. Beside her, Chewbacca growled slightly as he gestured with his long arm to follow him. Turning to walk beside the Wookie in the direction of a ship merchant stall being advertised, Rey asked him outright:

"Was he always like this?"

As Chewbacca grumbled in reply, Rey's face grew puzzled, as she admitted:

"What was that?"

Chewbacca shook his arm at her, before he seemed to give an exasperated expression before gesturing to follow him. Rey looked at BB-8 confusedly, who said nothing as it shook its head, as if agreeing with her.

* * *

Hidden amid some vendor markets, the members of the red armored, high tech weapon using, cybernetic enhanced Guavian Death Gang members, all humans, spotted the girl and the droid mentioned in the bounty hunter channels. Looking to his men, as he was also the only one not wearing their trademark red helmets, Bala-Tik knew they had a big pay day if they caught them.

* * *

But further down the market place, the Kanjiklub gang members had spotted the smuggler and pilot in question, also knowing the price on their heads. Kanjuklub relief on makeshift weapons and fighting skill, compared to their competition they heard rumors was also after this same prey.

Silently, both gangs converged through the market crowds in the space station, silently stalking their targets.

* * *

 **I am keeping Snoke as not needing gigantic holograms. He is not the Emperor, nor is he the Wizard of Oz.**

 **And Kylo is devoted to this, but troubled, because he didn't fully expunge the jedi when he carried out his massacre, and so he feels like he failed, as they are trying to finish what the Empire, and Vader as part of his legacy, could not.**

 **Also, I'm keeping the revelation of his parentage a secret until as late as possible.**

 **A better use of the Guavian death Gang and the Kanjiklub, as they are bounty hunter mercenaries who see the opportunity. Especially Kanjiklub, whose Raid crew actors were utterly wasted as monster chow.**

 **As for the 'space freighter' replacement scene, it is in a grungy looking, dirty space station market orbiting Takadona, as the planet in question if a trade and shipping nexus, meaning space infrastructure would be expected.**

 **No Rathtars, but a sort of dirty market street shootout type scenario, with the First Order also on the way the moment news breaks of them being there.**

 **Plus a grubby market and shipyard space station is not something seen in Star Wars movies. Maybe expanded material, but not movies.**


	5. Station shootout

**Takodana orbit, Takodana station**

* * *

Poe looked around, keeping alert as Han finished up speaking to the small astromech droid, a rusted looking bronze and white striped R5 unit, positioned nearby a ramshackle droid maintenance stall.

Pressing a few buttons on a holodisplay screen projected, his fingerprint being scanned, the little droid beeped a few times, to which Han gave a stiff nod to the droid, remarking:

"Make sure she knows we're coming."

Poe turned to Han, asking: "So we're cleared?"

"Not yet, but we will be. Mas knows me and Chewie, we'll be let down to her place."

Poe gave a small smile, but he then remarked with a very vague nod backwards up the market street:

"Good, those guys have been staring at us for a bit."

Turning his gaze, Han suddenly groaned under his breath as he whispered to Poe, seeing the red armored figures hidden amidst the stalls further up the station's market stall lane, easy to pick out among the throes of shabbily clothed species and ramshackle stalls.

"Guavian Death Gang…"

"You know them?" Poe whispered, as he slowly shifted his hand to the blaster he always kept, while Han jerked his head for Poe to follow slowly. Behind them, a few of the red helmeted figures slowly began to approach, brushing through the crowds as the 2 men walked on, ever so slowly picking up their walking pace.

"Bad bunch, but I owe 'em nothing right now. They fight for money… bounties included."

"We should lose them, get back to the ship."

Han nodded in agreement, but slowed down his pace as Poe also stopped, a helmet-less Guavian gang human striding into their path, approaching with a stern look on his face as he pulled a rifle out ready to use.

"I gotta bad a feeling about this..." Han moaned, as Poe's eyes turned to see the other gang members approaching.

* * *

"Han Solo, you and your buddies are wanted people. First Order, paying handsomely for you all."

"Come on Bala-tik, you know me, we had dealings in the past. You're willing to sell out a guy who you worked with, made good money with, to the Order of all people?"

"Good money which you took a larger cut of than we were happy with. But for any price big enough, we can cut anyone loose, especially conniving smugglers and their wanted friends."

Raising his rifle, Bala-tik knew the others were getting close to surround them. Approaching Solo close up, he saw the elder man's lines grow more worried, as he pressed the rifle barrel into Han's face and gave a small smirk:

"Luckily they want you alive, so just sit tight and-."

 **THWACK!**

Han flinched only slightly as Bala-tik went tumbling backwards, as Poe had smashed the butt of his pistol across the uncybernetic cheek of the human male. Grabbing Han by the jacket, Poe hurled him ahead as they began to run, while Balaptik groaned in anger as he scrambled to aim his rifle:

"Come on Mr. Solo!"

"Don't call me mister!" Han barked, as blaster bolts started to fly from the Guavian death gang members behind them, while they ducked and weaved through the ragged market streets, as screams from stall owner and market going people rose in the station hall, red blaster bolts from the death gang tearing after the 2 as they turned down a small hallway, a storage area corridor.

Pausing briefly, Han ducked around the hallway they'd turned down and readied his blaster, while Poe stopped as he also took up a firing position:

As the first red helmeted figure raced down ahead of the others, Han's blaster pistol lit the hallway up, while Poe's own pistol's blue shots tore a few shots down the hall. Floored by a few bolts, as a few others ducked around the corner to avoid the sudden backfire, Poe ushered them to race on back down the dirty metal hallway, while the gang were hiding in cover for a few seconds.

* * *

 **Takodana station, docking tube hall**

Rey patiently waited beside BB-8, outside the ship merchant nearby their docking tubes, as Chewbacca finished business with them.

Groaning happily, Chewbacca saw the display next to the Quadjumper's image show the sale had gone through, while the ship sales merchant, a Sullustian, gave a small wave as the Wookie began to walk back towards the docking area.

But the Wookie noticed a few roughly dressed thugs approaching the girl and the droid, ones he recognised. Tilting his head, Chewbacca gave a low growl as he began to move towards the pair's closest stalker, a pair of Kanjiklub humans waiting behind a large stack of travel ration crates.

But it wouldn't be him that attacked first.

* * *

Waiting calmly with BB-8, Rey remarked sardonically to the droid's beeps to her:

"Big secrecy with your mission before I got mixed up, not that I'm too different."

The droid beeped quizzically in reply, as Rey shrugged in her usual reply:

"Yes, not sure why they left me on Jakku, big secret about me. I don't suppose you know?"

Rey asked the last part sarcastically, to which BB-8 flipped two panels up on its sides, equivalent of a shrug almost, while Rey put her chin in hand as she sat in thought, remarking to the droid: "Thought not."

Gazing around, Rey took in the sights of the station's dank metallic halls, the large low hanging ceiling market and shipyard smelling strongly of its industrial innards and shanty market confines not too far from here.

Beside her, BB-8 wheeled about as it waited, but as it gave a few whirrs of its ball in its pacings, Rey sensed that feeling in the back of her mind, a warning.

Looking around, she could sense the feeling as stronger in certain directions, and as she gazed, she caught sight of a grubby clothed man hiding behind a stack of crates close by. Compelled, she grabbed her quarterstaff quickly, also keeping the pistol she'd been given handy.

Charging forwards, ignoring BB-8's panicked beeping, Rey saw the man leap from his hiding place as she had charged at him, a rifle raising to aim at her as she swung her staff out while leaping onto the top of the metre-high crate.

Her staff smashed across the human's face, sending him tumbling down as shouts rose from the few onlookers, but also aggressive ones from 4 similarly clad humans across the market.

Blaster bolts flew at her, as Rey ducked down, ignoring the unconscious man she'd already dealt with as she pulled out her pistol. A gap in the shooting came, as Rey leapt up and pulled the trigger, pointing at one of the Kanjiklub thugs who was only half looking at her from his spot.

But their attention was diverted as 2 of the men furthest from her had been attacked from behind by Chewbacca, the Wookie roaring loudly as he grabbed one of the men and hurled him into the other. Seizing the initiative, Rey pulled the trigger.

But the weapon didn't fire, she'd forgotten the safety.

As she fumbled, one of the Kanjiklub men saw her, and raised his rifle to shoot. Her strange feeling came back, as she quickly ducked to feel the blaster miss her shoulder, barely. Raising her pistol, she fired 3 shots, the first missing but the next 2 hitting the man in the arm and chest each. As he yelled, the other Kanjiklub man rushed towards her, firing his rifle as he rushed her position, Rey ducking down as the bolts tore into the crates she ducked behind.

Further back, Chewbacca wrestled the rifle out of one of the men's hands, hurling it into the other's chest with enough force to knock him unconscious against some nearby supply crates. The disarmed man then lashed out, a number of driven fists and kicks landing in Chewbacca's side as the Wookie span to try and get the fast moving human in his grip. As the human landed a kick to Chewbacca's back leg, the Wookie roared in outrage as he fell, whipping his arm around to floor the man, before scrambling to strangle him on the ground.

Choking, the human lashed out once more, punching Chewbacca hard in the face and neck with his one free arm. A few blows, and the Wookie had decided enough was enough, as he glimpsed the only other conscious Kanjiklub charging towards where Rey was in cover.

Grabbing the man's arm in hand as he punched him in the face again, Chewbacca roared as he stood up, a foot planted on the man's chest, ripping the arm from the socket and hurling it aside without looking back.

Leaving the screaming Kanjiklub thug behind, Chewbacca saw the man advance on Rey, while the Wookie readied his bowcaster.

Ahead, Rey fired her pistol, missing the man as he came close, whacking the pistol from her hand with his rifle, which she noticed had serrated blades along the side.

Ducking back, Rey lashed out with her Quarterstaff, deflecting the rifle being swung at her like her own staff as the Kanjiklub man gave her no quarter. Ducking under one swing, Rey weaved and blocked, deflected, but the Kanjiklub man kept coming.

* * *

Dashing down the corridor, Poe shot the panel to begin shutting the section doors, as they emerged from the service hallway. Behind them, blaster fire surged out of the closing door gap, as two of the Guavian gang members sprinted to get ahead of the doors before they shut, their leader and the other 2 slower than they were.

Firing back while running, Han hit one of the gang members in the torso, staggering him too much to make it to the doors before they shut. The one ahead semi lapt through the door to make it through, firing wildly at Poe and Han as they tore around the last corner before the sprint to the docking areas.

"Chewie! Prep the Falcon, we're leaving!" Han screamed into his wrist comm, but there was only a vague growl:

"Well get her and get moving!"

Han panted as he ran, while Poe, in better shape, shouted aloud: "They may have told the Order we're here!"

Trying to not trip, Han breathed a thanks as Poe had spun, firing his pistol as soon as he saw the red helmeted figure tear around the corner, the shots hitting the helmet and the shoulder to send the man sprawling onto his back, groaning from the hard hits.

Turning, Han beckoned for them to run, where the Falcon's bay was only a single turn away.

Further back, Bala-tik fumed as he saw 2 of his men prizing apart the doors after cutting them apart.

"Get those doors open! If Kanjiklub doesn't stop them at the docks for us to get there, they'll have us after them before the Order arrives!"

* * *

Han's call had distracted the Wookie, as he had his own problems.

Chewbacca lined up his bowcaster shot, while he stood on the metal flooring, away the docking tube, BB-8 had patched in by a small port to open the tube doors, beeping loudly as it did so.

Rey and the thug were changing places too often, the Wookie couldn't get a shot.

Rey meanwhile, backstepped. This was really odd, as she had felt this before when she fought, but now more than ever for some reason that feeling she was getting somehow let her know when and how to move in the fight.

The thug swung his rifle blade at her head, her quarterstaff locking with some serrated blade parts, while he then lashed out with a kick, which Rey sidestepped fast to then hurl the gun from his hands with a sudden, powerful flick of her staff.

Deprived of his gun, the thug charged Rey, smashing her into a box of crates behind her and forcing his weight against the staff. But sensing this, she span as he charged, sending him spinning away as she then swung her staff upwards, smashing it right into his chin and blowing the man back with a crash into the crate, collapsing in a heap on the ground.

Panting, Rey calmed herself as she saw Chewbacca off to the side, rushing over with a gesturing arm, though he tilted his head with an impressed grumble at her work. Looking back, she gave a ghost of a smile as she followed the Wookie, BB-8 beeping loudly from inside the docking tube.

As they ran past, with Rey vanishing into the tube with BB-8, the arm torn Kanjiklub was squirming on the ground weakly, while the first one Chewbacca had knocked unconscious groaned loudly as he raised his rifle at them.

Turning to the noise, Chewbacca fired hit bowcaster, the large green bolt blasting the thug back against the crates, smoldering at the chest. With a satisfied grunt, Chewbacca turned to run up the halls, hearing running footsteps as well as a familiar voice coming.

Han and Poe tore around the corner of the docking tube hall, barely paying much notice to the wounded, unconscious or dead Kanjiklub.

* * *

 **Millennium Falcon**

Rey was in the cockpit, as Chewbacca growled a few times to direct her to swtich on what systems, they needed. The engines powered up, humming audibly as the noise of the docking port being shut echoed into the cockpit.

Rey nodded to the Wookie, as she yelled back:

"Are you both there!"

"We're fine, now get back from there!" Han remarked, as he gruffly darted into the cockpit, Poe behind him as he took a seat behind the pilot and co-pilot seating.

As Chewbacca took them from the docking tube area, Han heard Chewbacca growl with a nod to Rey as the engines rumbled, and the station began to quickly move away from view. Turning back to Rey, Han gave a slight head cock, remarking:

"Well, you impressed someone."

"Who were those men?" Rey asked, as Poe then looked down at BB-8 beside them, the little droid beeping as Poe gave him a slight pat on the smaller head.

"Kanjiklub were your guys, Guavian Death gangs came after me and hot shot there."

Han gestured to Poe, who suggested: "We should get help, I can contact the resistance."

Han hesitated briefly, before he remarked: "Let's find what Mas knows about Luke, before anything else."

Rey tried to find a compromise: "Once we find out where Luke and the Jedi are, then we get help."

Poe agreed, reasoning to Han: "We may need them anyway for when we get to where he is anyway, in case the Order follows us."

"When aren't they?" Rey remarked, to which Chewie shook his head in agreement. Turning back, Han stared into space, lost in memories, as the others watched the planet surface approach, Mas Kenada's place on a large part of owned land on the north eastern continent of the forested planet.

* * *

 **Takodana station**

* * *

The First Order's advance force had arrived after the Falcon had entered the planet's atmosphere, avoiding detection when they arrived.

Stood on the metal flooring, Captain Phasma stared at the Guavian Death gang, what 3 remained, along with the 2 Kanjiklub thugs that remained. 2 banded together mercenary groups, and they had failed.

"Useless. Take them."

The Stormtroopers escorted the failures of gang members away, but the fact that they'd seen the Falcon, and accounted for all its members, was beneficial.

Turning to the troopers not taking the 5 mercs away, Phasma ordered:

"Find anyone that they spoke to on this station, use the security recordings."

The troopers moved out, but Phasma stopped a certain trooper before he could go, the taller commander speaking to his other squadmate:

"FN-2199, proceed as ordered, FN-2187 has a different task."

"Yes Ma'am." 2199 replied, marching off as 2187 was directed by Phasma with her head turned to where the prisoners had been taken:

"Execute them, then guard the shuttle dock."

2187 was quiet, as Phasma slowly turned her helmet to look at the mildly hesitant trooper:

"FN-2187, I gave you an order."

"Y-Yes ma'am, was distracted It won't happen again."

"See that it does not."

Captain Phasma strode off, her blood red cape flowing as 2187 turned to march to the huddled corner the 5 mercenaries had been gathered. Bala-tik stared at the new approaching trooper, fearful protest on his face as 2187 raised his rifle, the other troopers standing ready, but not firing:

"We had a deal, us and Kanjiklub!"

"Just following orders." 2187 remarked softly beneath his helmet, as his trembling finger pulled the trigger on his rifle after a few seconds pause, his eyes shut as he sprayed the wall with blaster fire, the blaster light reflecting off his helmet.

He strode away from the prisoner pile with the other troopers, stopping to look back at the pile of prisoners, then down at his rifle, letting it sag in his one hand as he slowly followed in the stead of the other stormtroopers, his role to watch the docking tube their shuttle had connected to.

To himself, FN-2187 very slightly shook his head, his free hand trembling as he recalled much of what he'd done and seen, as he stood motionless, one blank trooper among many, with his deeds hanging on his mind.

* * *

 **R5 units, cheap, seemingly common, perfect subtle contact for someone with influence on Takodana like Mas Kenada in my story treatment.**

 **Guavian Death Gang and Kanjiklub get a better use in story. [With Kanjiklub, if you have the actors from the Raid movies, bloody well use them, let them go down fighting at least, not omnomed up by some weird slug urchin creature that looks uncreative and somehow less 'real' than some prequel CGI creatures, not a creative creature the Rathtars anyway].**

 **Han has had dealings with the Guavians at least, and ripped them off as he might well have done by official TFA history, and the bounty on his and their heads was merely the green light for them to go after him, as there was something to be gained from it.**

 **Also, I felt it was high time we actually see a Wookie rip an arm out of someone's socket, and the reason Rey bests a Kanjiklub in melee combat is her suppressed, untrained force abilities giving her greater focus and reaction time, as untrained force users in Star Wars often show along with greater learning curves.**

 **And another cruel, ordered act to show FN-2187 [Finn] progressively changing his mind.**


	6. A Grand Strategy

**Takodana, north eastern continent**

 **Mas Keneta's castle**

* * *

Flying low over the lake, the Falcon skimmed the water's surface as it came to land at a large, stone looking building. It almost resembled a cathedral in many regards with a large tower at each end rising over a ribbed looking structure between them.

After landing in the nearby forests, it wasn't long before Han was disembarking.

Pointing to Chewbacca, Han turned to leave as the Wookie growled back, staying behind to watch the ship for now.

Leading Rey, Poe and BB-8 ahead, Han remarked as they came upon the entrance to the castle, noting the many banners and insignia's draped above the entryway, and a statue of the small alien that ran this place.

"Mas is a smuggler, big name on this planet and beyond it. Lot of people come here to make deals with her or with people she knows. She knows we're coming, so just let me do the talking. Just, don't stare when you see her."

Rey seemed puzzled at this, though beside her Poe followed Han ahead, while BB-8 nudged her with a chittering series of beeps, after which she and the droid followed the two men inside.

* * *

A main foyer and hall greeted them, seedy looking with a grungy type of ambient music playing from the band inside. An all manner of aliens sat around with drinks and food, but many of them were deep in conversation with each other, the whispers hinting it wasn't all social meetings.

As they walked through, Han came up to a pair of gruff looking human guards at the foot of a small step, which led into a room further back in the castle. As the guards looked Han over, speaking with him, Rey glanced around, hearing the manner of noises the alien and human patrons, or clients, around the main hall.

Poe looked around too, remarking with some impressed tone in his voice: "Draws big crowds, doesn't she?"

Rey gave a small wary nod, as she mused aloud: "I didn't realise there was this much in the galaxy. Peoples, green, places."

"Yeah, just remember not everything is nice and friendly." Poe replied, to which BB-8 chittered in an almost laughing manner while Rey remarked bluntly:

"Trust me, Jakku wasn't the friendliest place in the galaxy."

"Nor the greenest I'll bet." Poe jabbed back.

"Hey kids, stop chatting, Mas wants us." Han called them from ahead, as the guards had stepped aside to let them through. Cautiously, with BB-8 taking extra time as its ball mode had to use cables to get up the small steps, they ventured through into the VIP section of the castle's main areas.

Stood at a smaller bar, serving high grade merchandise, with only a few high profile individuals around, deep in conversation, they failed to notice one short, golden brown skinned female alien catch sight of them as she had been walking up to the bar, an empty glass in hand.

"Han Solo!"

The few aliens and humans in this VIP section turned to see the Smuggler caught, sheepishly waving at Mas as she looked at him:

"Hey Mas…"

Behind him, Rey gave Poe an odd look, to which he seemed just as surprised. Mas wandered up to Han, looking him over as she asked outright:

"Where's my boyfriend?"

"Chewie's watching the ship."

"I like that Wookie."

As she looked him over, Mas then looked at Poe and BB-8 with mild curiosity, and then Rey. Curiously, she seemed to linger with some slightly greater interest on Rey. Turning back to Han, as the other patrons in the VIP lounge had returned to their normal activities, Mas remarked with some mild boredom if anything:

"I know why you're here, as if you'd come here not needing something. Let's get this done." Mas gestured for them to follow her, as she led them to a more secluded area of the castle, her back rooms.

* * *

But back inside the main atrium, amidst the party goers, a black and grey bodysuit clad human female had left her blubbery alien 'client' to make a call in a corner of the castle atrium.

"I have seen the droid, the one with the fugitives the Order wishes. They're all here."

* * *

Elsewhere in the same castle, a red, humanoid shaped droid with a wide cheek extension faceplate spoke in code through its covert communication line:

" _Inform the Resistance, the Pilot, Solo and the witness have been found."_

* * *

 **Takodana station**

* * *

They'd got the message of where the fugitives were on the planet, and were merely holding for now.

The nearby docking tube held their shuttle, but the area around the entry point was guarded by First Order Stormtroopers, a handful in either direction, with the others off duty reclined around a few supply crates to keep their stay here as well equipped as possible.

Currently off duty, FN-2187 sat with his squadmate on top a nearby station cooling pipeline as they spoke, socialising as usual as many of the closely knit units did in the First Order Stormtrooper units.

FN-2199, 'Nines', had remarked with some good humour, but minor hesitation:

"I know its not protocol, but I gotta check that loose wire in my helmet again. Don't let Phasma know I took it off."

"I thought you had it fixed?"

As the red headed, pale skinned man took off his helmet, he reached inside as he made sure his exposed head wasn't stared at by any of the other off duty Stormtroopers. Fiddling with a wire, 'Nines' remarked: "I thought so to. Wish Zeroes was here; he knew circuits best. Guess Phasma thought you and I were better than he was for the job. Still, he wasn't like Slip at least."

"…Slip was alright." FN-2187 said quietly. At this, Nines went quiet, as he gave a small sigh before he said:

"Sorry, but Slip, was always the last among us, then Zeroes, then me, and you '87'. Still, I miss him too. At least you got the one that killed him."

"Yeah…" '87' remarked, as he then proceeded to take off his helmet, revealing his dark skinned, bus cut hair. Nines's eyes widened slightly, as he said: "Hey, you know helmets have to-."

"I just gotta have some fresh air is all." 87 replied hesitantly. Nines gave him an odd look, as he then looked around. 87 noticed this, as he then looked around the dirty looking space station they and the other Stormtroopers were waiting in at various places:

Slightly sheepish, 87 remarked to Nines with a slight laugh: "Yeah, bad choice of words I know…"

"I hope we get to move out. I'd keep my helmet on while we're here 87."

"Yeah I get ya. Not sure the air's really good for us here."

As they shared a laugh, Nines continued to fiddle with the wire inside his helmet, as 87 sat facing away in some thought, running a hand through his hair as he glanced at his blaster, and then at the face of the helmet in his hands. It seemed to stare back, accusingly at him, daring him to keep feeling his doubts as he already was.

* * *

 **Interstellar space**

* * *

 **Finalizer star destroyer**

* * *

Walking through the hallways, Kylo Ren strode with silence as usual, stopping only when a young female Stormtrooper briskly stopped before him with a salute, stang with practiced calm:

"Sir, Captain Phasma reports the fugitives on Takodana have been located, she is awaiting your orders with her forces on the orbital station."

"How fortunate. Return to your post trooper, dismissed."

As the female Stormtrooper gave another salute before marching off to her duties, Kylo turned in the direction of the nearby turbolift hall.

Up in the command tower of the ship, General Hux was already waiting on him.

* * *

 **Communications room**

Sat in the chair as usual in holoform, Snoke looked up to see Kylo stride into the room, while Hux turned with a look of veiled impatience at the man's tardiness.

"Good, now that both of you are present, we can begin."

"Forgive my delay master, it will not happen again." Kylo gave a polite bow, to which Snoke dismissively remarked with a minor hand wave:

"Now is not a time to grovel, but to rejoice. Everything is where it should be, be it the fugitives, or the Republic Senate and their main fleet."

Snoke rumbled to a silence as he shut his eyes in thought, while he then turned to General Hux: "General Hux, you are to depart for the forward battle fleet immediately. The weapons are with the fleet already, ready to be used. It is only fitting that the General who oversaw their construction witness them set of to fulfil their purpose."

With a low bow, General Hux remarked with an anticipating smile on his face: "Their results shall not disappoint you my lord. The Republic will not have a chance."

"Surprise is essential; this opportunity may not arise again in the future. Go, you have your orders."

General Hux turned to leave the comm room, but not before shooting a knowing smile at Kylo Ren. Here was where he could upset the prized golden boy of Snoke's eye, by outdoing him in one fell stroke.

This may be a two pronged offensive, but Hux considered with no bias that his part was more essential to the First Order.

* * *

Turning to face Snoke, Kylo stood as his master rumbled to him through the holoform:

"There has been an awakening, have you felt it?"

"Yes."

"I sense there is someone among the fugitives. Someone strong with the force. They are what we have been sensing."

"And they are on the search for Skywalker, and the Jedi." Kylo finished. Snoke gave a small nod, as he then gave a small lecture to Kylo, though one he'd given already:

"Whether the Republic exists or not after our attack, the existence of the Jedi gives the galaxy inspiration to rebel, to fight against the very force that tries to restore order to their galaxy, peace. The re-emergence of Jedi would resume in its inspiration of an anarchic, corrupt society, as the days of the Republic were before the Empire. Their peace, freedom they call it, a delusional lie."

"The Galaxy requires order, and a forceful hand to maintain it. The Empire nearly succeeded, but failed."

Snoke was quiet as Kylo Ren finished the lectured point, but then remarked:

"You know why the Empire fell. What ideal it was that unravelled what was serving to distil order in a violent, unruly galaxy?"

"Compassion."

"Yes. Compassion by the rebels, who went on to create the Republic today. Compassion by the Jedi remnants who gave them inspiration. And even from within, the seduction of the Emperor's enforcer by compassion for his son."

"Compassion is a weakness. Darth Vader could overcome." Kylo Ren remarked. At this, Snoke leant forwards slightly, his voice slightly hissing to drive home the importance of this:

"You must succeed where Lord Vader failed. Do not let compassion cloud your loyalty to restoring order to the galaxy. I sense the turmoil still brewing in you, it is festering still."

"I will not be seduced by the light." Kylo Ren said defensively, his fist tightening slightly as SNoke looked at him with some scepticism. Reclining in his throne, Snoke ordered bluntly:

"Ensure the fugitives do not make off the planet. Blockade it, you will have other ships arrive to assist in that matter. To ensure peace returns, the corrupt powers must be removed, and the sources of compassion snuffed out at their source."

"They must be captured, the location of the Jedi extracted from where they seek it on the planet. Find this strong one, perhaps a Jedi, and deal with them."

Kylo Ren bowed low, as he spoke calmly through his mask: "I will not disappoint you."

"Remember, compassion is a weakness. You are unique, master of the knights of Ren, a blend of the dark and the light. Do not let the trappings of one side or the other cloud your mind, do not let the dogmatic ideals of the Jedi or the Sith constrain your power to narrowed principles. Devote yourself to your power, and you shall serve the cause of restoring order in ways even the greatest of the Empire never could."

Snoke's holoform vanished after that, as Kylo Ren stood calmly there for a moment, before he turned to leave the darkened comms. room.

* * *

 **Finalizer**

In his private quarters, Kylo Ren was on his knees, deep in thought as he spoke to a table mounted item before him, his cloak off his shoulders on a small chair nearby:

"Forgive me. I feel it again... the call from light. Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again the power of the darkness, and I'll let nothing stand in our way. Show me, and I will finish what you started."

Looking up, Kylo's helmet stared into the burnt, mangled helmet that once belonged to the Dark Lord of the Sith, and chief enforcer of the Galactic Empire, Darth Vader. The most powerful figure in the Empire, second to the Emperor only, more active despite this, brought to failure by compassion.

Kylo would succeed where Vader could not.

* * *

 **Interstellar space**

* * *

 **First Order forward fleet**

The grey painted Upsilon class shuttle, General Hux's assigned one, dropped out of hyperspace to emerge off to the side of the small fleet of First Order ships.

Two 3-kilometre long Resurgent class Star Destroyers, the same class as the Finalizer, along with a handful of small 250-metre-long Lancer class frigates, lay in space. But the centre of the fleet, its main purpose of escorting, seemed like an antique at first glance.

An old, 1600-metre-long Imperial class Star Destroyer, but this one was covered in an odd layer of panels all over its surface, giving it an almost dark grey, mirror like appearance. And attached like small nodes on its trenchlike linings along its massive broadsides were around 2 dozen small nodes, almost like spheres aligned along its axis, all of them also covered in the sheen like surfacing.

Flying into one of the hangers of the leader among the two Resurgent class Star destroyers, General Hux's shuttle came to land inside the hanger bay, a few troops and officers waiting his arrival already.

As the ramp lowered, Hux strode out quickly, a black uniformed officer handing a datapad to Hux as he remarked:

"We have programmed the vessel's hyperdrive and nav computer to jump to Hosnian Prime, and are awaiting the signal from the infiltrator team there."

General Hux gave a small smirk, as he asked while they reached the edge of the hanger turbolift doors, a pair of Stormtroopers saluting as he and the lower officer entered:

"Years of work, prototyping, and finally we are ready. We dispose of an old warship, and of an enemy political power base in one fell swoop."

The turbolift doors shut, as the General proceeded up to the bridge level with the ship captain.

* * *

 **Hosnian Prime**

* * *

 **Republic City**

Sat in her temporary office in the Republic Senate building, the Resistance Commander Korr Sella seemed irritated, but respectful, as she spoke to the holoform projected face of her General, Leia Organa.

The older woman seemed almost numb to the bad news, as she remarked with well-deserved sardonic tone: "They didn't even give you a hearing?"

"No. The excuse was that the Senate has more important matters to attend to at this present moment."

"Take it from someone who knew the workings of the senate from the empire's days and my father's teachings. They're tired of hearing what they don't want to hear."

As Korr gave a small sigh, the older General seemed hesitant, but pleading with the woman:

"But please keep trying Korr. The Senate can't ignore the First Order's operations any longer. Something is going on, they're pursuing those I sent to get back the Jedi in hiding."

Korr thought to herself, as she remarked: "Maybe the Jedi in peril might be the kick in the pants the Senate needs."

"Why do you think I'm going to this much trouble? I'd have Skywalker himself appear before the Senate to stun them into listening to our warnings if he was already back."

With a small, hopeful smile, Korr Sella offered this: "Maybe the Senate will listen to some warnings if I throw in the Jedi coming back. They are a group they still respect after all, what respect some of them have left that is. I'll do all I can to ensure the Resistance gets the hearing we deserve."

Leia smiled through the holoform, as she nodded in thanks while keeping a weary expression: "That is all I can ask of you."

Outside the office, the city skyline of the cosmopolitan Republic city glistened in the morning light, as airspeeders and pedestrians gave life to the towering structures that made up the planet's largest city.

* * *

 **Republic city**

 **Military installation HQ, shield generator facility**

The Republic troopers bid their co-worker, a civilian contracted worker group, a wave as they passed by.

The massive building housed a shield generator for the entire city, mandatory for any planet capital that might, or did, house a population of a certain size, and in this particular case, house the seat of the New Republic government.

Towering high above, the massive shield generator tower loomed as they descended to their usual work stations, checking systems as usual for their work day.

The uniformed civilians went to their stations, but amidst some of the stations, a few wary workers looked around, surveying the systems carefully as usual, while they began to change out the worn out circuits for new ones as per usual maintenance on a high power consuming facility like this one.

One worker hooked his personal datapad up, checking the shield integrity. A display of the cityscape opened up, and a small holo-projection of a transparent shield dome covering its vast area.

But oddly though, his datapad held a projection of the entire planet, with specific signals in orbit being highlighted over others, ships of the Republic fleet and their shapes cycling as he checked them over.

All the ships selected were large cruisers or bigger, the truly powerful ships of the Republic's largest fleet.

Carefully selected targets.

* * *

 **Keeping in line with the Hosnian system attack, I decided to better present it. Same effect on the overall story as the attack does, but not dragging it into a death star plot rehash. It was, and will still be here, a Pearl Harbor/9-11 analogue. More overtly here, as the targets among the fleet are the biggest ships/carriers and battleships, and a government structure of power.**

 **Any ships used by the FO are canon confirmed ones, and some of the Imperial destroyers they have would be getting old by 30 years after Endor. May as well put one of those hulks to good use, even if the same strategy won't work twice. It only has to work once.**

 **A two pronged attack by the Order, to destroy the Republic governance and a large portion of its main fleet, but not its only fleet, while at the same time finally locating and eradicating the 'poster children' of their 'freedom', the Jedi. Destroying their actual power and their symbols to rally behind at the same time.**

 **And instead of a Superweapon, the attack is noted as being a one off, as the Republic, what's left of it, won't be caught flat footed like this again. But if the agents don't disable the city's shield, the attack will fail.**

 **As for the old star destroyer repurposed, the 24 nodes along its axis will fill the role of attacking the largest ships in the fleet at Hosnian Prime, namely capital ships and carriers, anything that poses an actual danger to First Order ships.**

 **The Star destroyer however, has a much simpler, but effective role once the shield is down.**

 **All the while though, I have kept Ren's inner turmoil intact, while keeping his heritage a secret, but also covered the reason he fears compassion, a light side trait, as it was what destroyed the Empire long ago, and spread the anarchy of the republic and new jedi today.**

 **I also gave a more personal exchange between Finn, or '87' as he's known, and Nines, who the internet knows as TR-8R.**

 **As for the castle scene, its more or less the same, except Mas has a VIP section and more private areas she'll take them to for matters like this.**

 **And a much needed scene on Hosnian Prime to actually give in-story [should've been in movie in canon case] context for the Senate's ignorance, as well as the unique 'sabotage' element to the FO attack in my story.**


	7. Vision, Republic's Dusk

**Takodana, north eastern continent**

* * *

 **Mas Kenata's Palace, Back areas**

* * *

Sat around a small table, the 3 humans and BB droid were safe from prying eyes and ears back here with Mas.

Examining the holomap they showed her, Mas Kenata pored over it as she mumbled aloud:

"If this is the map he left Lor San Tekka, a sign I'll recognise should…ah."

As she touched the red highlighted dot of her homeworld, the holomap program recognised her fingerprint, and altered its image suddenly, revealing the insignia of the Jedi Order, dating back to before the Clone Wars, before it reverted back to normal.

Giving a small smile, Mas nodded at the good news: "Well you aren't lying, but ways of making sure you are who you say, are sadly needed in the galaxy as it is."

'So will you help us?" Han asked straight out, to which Mas paused in thought, before she gave Han a slightly soft look, shaking her head as she smiled:

"You would think I would not? Even so, I know you feel troubled doing this. Han, go home, you are clearly missed."

"She doesn't want me."

"Only she can tell you that. If she didn't, why would she contact you as backup for this pilot and, … who are you?"

Poe was about to speak, before Rey remarked swiftly: "Rey. I just got mixed up in all this."

Lowering her head, Mas remarked: "The First Order, they pursue any witnesses as fiercely as any of their prey."

Poe shifted in his seat, as he asked politely: "Look, as soon as we know where Skywalker is, I think we should contact the Resistance for backup. We don't want to risk the Order following us and being caught outgunned."

Mas looked at Poe with some understanding, as she then stood up to gesture to them all:

"Follow me, I keep my valuables in the back vault."

* * *

Mas's vault, was 2 levels of rooms where she kept a private collection of treasures, art, relics and stockpiles of wealth materials as well. She was deceptively rich despite her castle's seemingly seedy nature.

But in the main area, the upper level of the vaults, Mas had pulled out a small holodisk, as BB-8 projected the map holo into the room before them. As she put the disk to the holomap, the galaxy map's blue stars, and one red highlighted star where Takodana was, added a yellow spot, also in the 'western' uncharted regions.

A hardly known star system, the specific planet's name being Ahch-To. One of the First Jedi Temples known to have existed, possibly the first ever if the readout was correct.

Han marvelled, as he muttered aloud: "Luke, he really was looking for it."

Mas nodded, but then, she decided that she could trust them enough to admit the truth she'd kept for a decade now:

"He was. But it was not where he took his students, the ones he brought with him. He tried to teach them, but having to constantly evade Order detection, the Knights of Ren were sensitive to their unique presences in the Force, it made life difficult."

Rey's eyes widened, as she asked outright: "They're not with him anymore?"

"No. He blames himself for what happened, they found them, and he barely escaped, and then he went into hiding alone. The Order."

Han cast his eyes down, as Poe quietly asked: "What happened to the students?"

Mas said with a dark tone to her voice: "Luke and the students were found on their hiding planet here by the Order, one of the other Knights of Ren tracked him and they down."

She pointed to a specific system, this one highlighting in a white colour, as she remarked bluntly:

"That was 8 years ago, when Luke last contacted me to ensure I could pass on where he really is. You won't find any students with him, they too, were wiped out. The grief of losing 2 Jedi generations to the violence of Ren and his knights was too much for him. He sought exile, clearing his thoughts, seeking serenity in the First Temple."

As Rey listened in, her head turned slightly.

 _No.._

A child's voice echoing very slightly in her mind, coming from a nearby stairwell, just off to the side of the main vault hallway.

Regaining her focus for now, she heard Poe reply with some thinking: "But he is there, Ahch-To. I think I should leave now."

"You'd leave?"

"General Organa wants me to get back as soon as I have where Luke is. I gave her my word I would."

Han weighed his decisions, though he didn't notice Rey had wandered off down the stairs. BB-8 did however, as it silently wheeled after her.

Mas did see the girl and droid leave however, but said nothing for now as Han and Poe decided with her.

"You best go. She isn't one you want to get on the wrong side of, trust me." Han suggested, to which Poe then turned to Mas, who barely even paused as she gave a finger point to the door:

"There are a pair of Ugnauts, they'll give you a lift to wherever you wish. I shall pay for it, a one-time offer."

Poe nodded, as he then turned to see Rey had gone, to which Han replied grumpily as he went out to check on the Falcon and Chewie:

"Relax, she'll turn up. You've got some ugnauts to deal with, I wanna check on the Falcon and Chewie."

As the 2 men left, Mas slowly headed towards the stairwell.

* * *

Walking down into the lower levels, as BB-8 trundled behind down the steps slowly, Rey heard the child's echoing, faint cry yet again. It seemed familiar, and yet she couldn't remember where.

As she walked down the eerily quiet hallway, she noticed the lines of artefacts down here were of a specific variety.

She saw markings of both the Jedi and the Sith. The sith artefacts were all on the right, whilst the Jedi ones were on the left. Clearly this was the most valuable artefact collection Mas had.

But the brown and black robes, the jedi and sith holocrons that glowed blue and red each, and a wide variety of talismans, books, scrolls, antique weapons that predated lightsabers, this hallway was a testament to the polarity of the two ways that had defined practice of the Force for millennia.

And yet, she heard the child's cry once again, this time coming from a side where the Jedi artefacts were lined in a separate room each. Inside, she saw a grey stoned room, with a few discard cloaks, quilts, and a single chest.

Approaching, she felt a strange sensation, something calling to her in the chest. Approaching it, she ignored BB-8's wary beeping from outside in the hallway as she came up to touch the chest with a hand, finding it to be unlocked.

Slowly she creaked open the chest, expecting something truly ethereal.

Instead, she saw a simple device, with what looked like power cell banks along its length, a few switches and numerous metal coverings. It almost looked like a weapon handle of some sort.

Reaching in, Rey touched the device slowly with one hand, the cool metal meeting her flesh.

A surge in her mind propelled her, as images began to flash in her mind:

* * *

 _A flurry of moving images, until Rey found herself standing in a darkened hallway, a rib like number of arches dotting the corridor's length, as a chorus of indistinguishable voices mixed with sounds of conflict, mechanical breathing, and the child's cries._

 _A hissing igniting of a lightsaber, bathing the corridor in a slight red tinge, as the mechanical breathing drew closer unseen, before everything blurred again._

* * *

 _Now the vision shifted, a rain soaked planet, where she saw a crossguard red lightsaber swing to cut down a warrior as lightning crashed overhead, a large building burning in the distance._

 _All around them, an imposing figure in black armor and cloaking wielded the red lightsaber, flanked by 6 others in similar garb but wielding differing weapons. The Knights of Ren and their leader, Kylo Ren, standing upon a rain soaked battleground and the bodies in cloaks._

* * *

 _Voices calling her name, Rey some called, another was a strange, croaking, higher pitched voice saying for her to not be afraid. Then the image changed, as the surroundings still stayed in the burning temple of some sort._

 _A robed figure knelt, face hidden, next to a blue and white R2 unit, before he raised a hand to rest atop the droid's slightly soot covered frame, as the image swirled yet again._

* * *

 _A mad cackling sounded, as a snow basked forest, with a large mountain raging fires from its peak loomed in the distance. The ominous figure with the red crossguard blade strode out into the forest, stopping furiously to ignite in a ready stance at an unseen foe._

 _But then the child's cries came again:_

* * *

" _NO!"_

" _Quiet girl, you're staying here now." Unkar Plutt said warningly, as the little girl, which Rey realised was herself, screamed through tears as the ship took flight up ahead off of Jakku._

 _A cacophony of voices as her worldviews metamophosised before her eyes, as a sagelike voice sounded: Rey, these are your first steps._

* * *

Jerking back to reality, Rey backpeddled into stumping onto her backside, panic rising with her breaths as she stared sideways to see BB-8 quickly rolling over, beeping in concern.

Shaking her head, trying to process all she had seen, Rey saw Mas Kenata walking up to her, curious and wary now:

"What did you see?"

"What was that!?" Rey demanded furiously, unable to keep her cool.

Pointing to the room, Mas went on:

"That lightsaber, it belonged to Luke Skywalker, as it did his father, Anakin Skywalker, before him. And now it calls to you…"

Shaking her head, Rey blinked back a few tears of panic as Mas tried to keep the situation calm, letting the girl speak her mind:

"No, I can't, I have to get back home."

"Whoever it is you are waiting for on Jakku, they are not coming back. Dear child. The longing you seek is not behind you, it is in front of you.

"I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes... feel it... the light... its always been there... it will guide you. The saber, take it."

At this, Rey stood up vigorously, exclaiming to the shorter alien vehemently:

"No, I don't want anything to do with that thing!"

Without pause, Rey took off, heading for the exit of the castle, while BB-8 took off in pursuit.

* * *

Speaking with the Ugnauts, as Han had gone off to check on the ship, Poe saw Rey storm from the castle, though he got up when he saw BB-8 wheeling after her fast.

"Don't leave." He ushered to the 2 Ugnauts, who both snorted as they stayed put. The pilot took off after the droid, out of the castle, stopping the droid while Rey continued on:

"Rey!"

Poe called out, but the girl was not listening. Down beside him, as BB-8 anxiously rolled, Poe decided now was the time to make the choice. Kneeling down, he asked the little droid earnestly:

"Hey buddy, you go find her. I gotta go sort out my way to get help, but I got a big job for you. You have all the information, so, I want you to stay with Rey and the others, while I get help. Got it?"

BB-8 whistled frantically, while giving a quick flick of its lighter to simulate a thumbs up, Poe smiling in response as he patted the droid affectionately. BB-8 tore off into the nearby forests in pursuit of Rey, whilst Poe ventured back inside to deal with the remaining arrangements with the Ugnauts before they took off for the Resistance's nearest meeting point.

Elsewhere though, plans finally came to terrible fruition.

* * *

 **Interstellar space, First Order attack fleet**

 **Main Star destroyer**

"Sir, holochannel links are open, all our frequencies."

General Hux walked up to the communications room, nodding to the female officer nearby who would oversee the broadcast. Nearby, command officers communicated:

"Ready remote uplinks. Ship commander, ready?"

General Hux walked into the comms room, readying the broadcast across all First Order networks, and any that received. The Republic would not be able to hear this, nor would they.

If they did, it was too late to stop them anyway.

* * *

 **First Order re-purposed Imperial Star Destroyer**

On the command bridge, the 3 crew who stood ready, decked in their uniforms, wore their helmets proudly as they had emblazoned the First Order insignia atop their black helmets.

"Backup control crew ready to go."

" _ **Farewell crew, bring glory to the Order."**_

As the communications came in, the helmeted crew stared out the command bridge, the equipment and automation meaning they were there merely as backup. This was a one way trip.

Then, General Hux's speech came through on the comms, broadcasting from one of the accompanying Star Destroyers of larger, more modern make.

* * *

" _Today is the end of the Republic. The end of a regime that acquiesces to disorder. At this very moment in a system far from here, the New Republic lies to the galaxy while secretly supporting the treachery of the loathsome Resistance. This fierce attack, mere moments from being launched, will bring an end to the Senate, to their cherished fleet. All remaining systems will know the First Order's wrath, and will remember this as the last day of the Republic!"_

Hux felt his breath go hoarse, as he let his passion slip into his speech across the holonet. Nearby his face, he saw a display of the fleet he was stationed aboard, and the repurposed ship awaiting departure.

"Launch!" Hux's command surged through the comms, as the last protocols were carried out aboard the repurposed star destroyer.

* * *

 _" **Thrusters to full, acquiring necessary hyperspace exit velocity."**_

The reflective armour coated Imperial class star destroyer's thrusters glowed bright blue as it surged away from the fleet, gaining speed in space relative to both them, and its target, before jumping into Hyperspace.

After a few minutes, the massive Star destroyer suddenly vanished faster than normal, darting in a blur into Hyperspace at speeds beyond its hyperdrive capabilities.

They had overclocked the Hyperdrive, knowing this one way weapon only needed to work once.

* * *

 **Hosnian Prime, Republic City**

 **Main shield generator facility**

He and others knew the risks, but it took only one of them to do it. The others had got far from the city, and he'd drawn the short straw. He would serve the Order in the ultimate way.

The disguised repair worker looked about cautiously, before engaging the code he'd put into the mainframe. A series of coded alphabets began to litter every feedout screen for the power core, as warning sirens began to wail throughout the complex.

The insignia of the First Order relayed across the feedback screens, as the power systems failed, and the entire shield network came down, sirens wailing across the city.

Out in space, not 1 minute after this chaos unfolded, a ship dropped out of hyperspace, its velocity on exit very high for how close it was. And it was heading in a straight line for the city from beyond the orbit of the main fleet.

Out in space, the hulking Star destroyer's thrusters kept on full, as the defence fleet scrambled to gain a fix on the clearly assaulting target to fire. But the few small lasers they could muster up fastest reflected off the specialised armour plating. Cheap and brittle, but useful for a one off purpose.

As the Star Destroyer screamed towards the planet, the 24 nodes along its sides launched out, like escape pods from a ship, but these ones were the size of small frigates, as they deployed thrusters and heavily armoured sections before changing course.

When the Star Destroyer hurtled down towards the planet, down past the patrolling defence fleet ships, the 24 ships all met their targets.

The largest ships in the fleet were caught in a series of massive explosions, as the First Order deployed massive antimatter bombs to detonate in very close proximity to the largest and most powerful ships in the Republic fleet.

The attack, the fleet's patterns, had been tracked, so that this strike could occur with pinpoint precision.

And now, hurtling into the atmosphere, the armour on the star destroyer began to glow orange as it slammed into the planet's gassy layers and clouds like an asteroid, some parts chipping away. For all intents and purposes, it was the same kind of attack.

But the agents on the ground ensured the incredibly powerful shield that protected Republic city would be offline when they came.

* * *

Korr Sella stared at the sight, fear growing in her throat. It would be the last thing she ever felt.

The Republic senate members stared out as they saw a very quickly growing shape, as coming straight down, like a gigantic arrowhead streaking from the heavens, the orange glowing Star destroyer came crashing down into the city's downtown area. The ground exploded, rocked, and tore apart as the shockwave of millions of tons of ship smashed into the planet at once.

The Senate building, the entire Republic city, and the most powerful portions of their fleet, were obliterated in the span of Five Minutes, by internal sabotage making way for a massive impact attack.

The First Order had crippled the New Republic, destroying its leadership, crippling its fleet, and killing millions in a single stroke. And it had done so with the greatest of ease it seemed.

The Galaxy was changed.

* * *

 **In context to Luke, a revelation is here. He has become exiled, but this time, he didn't give up after losing one class.**

 **It took two classes being harmed by the Order this time. But WHERE he and his other class were found plays a role in the third act, as does one place where the First Order has been manufacturing their new war machines in secrecy.**

 **For the world, which both is the 2** **nd** **student discovery locale and Order facility, I take inspiration from the Force Awakens concept art of an ice planet with volcanic features [if done in movie, likely would've filmed in Iceland].**

 **Rey's vision of course, largely the same.**

 **I extended Maz's collection of 'force user artefacts', so her coming across that old lightsaber will be more easy to grasp as her merely finding it and acquiring it for, in the very least, collectability.**

 **Drop the city's shields, kamikaze it so fast they can't really respond, and for all intents and purposes nuke the largest ships in their fleet with ones launched from the kamikaze ship on the way down. So much simpler than carving out an entire planet.**

 **Also, good use of an ageing Imperial class Star destroyer that would otherwise have to be scrapped or mothballed.**


	8. Assault, Defector

**Takodana orbit**

* * *

The small cargo shuttle had lifted off fast from the castle grounds, as Poe saw space appear in the cockpit's viewport before him from the back seat.

The 2 Ugnauts spoke frantically to each other, preparing the jump to hyperspace as they came closer to safe orbit altitude. All of a sudden, a few warning signals flared from the display, causing Poe to surge forwards:

"What's wrong?!"

The Ugnauts spoke unintelligibly, as they pointed to the readouts, to which Poe stared out at space:

"But there isn't any ship out-."

At that moment though, before their eyes, the imposing shape of a Resurgent class star destroyer emerged from Hyperspace, filling the cockpit's view out in front. In a frenzy of panic, the 2 pilots scrambled to change course, but not before every electronic circuit and alarm began to ring and short out:

"What do you mean you can't stop the jamming!?" Poe exclaimed, losing his cool as he suddenly felt the ship lock into place, caught in a tractor beam.

The Resurgent class star Destroyer Finalizer moved closer, while alongside it, 2 others of the same class dropped out of Hyperspace nearby, moving away to secure positions around the planet.

* * *

 **Finalizar, command bridge**

* * *

"The fugitive's ship is locked in our tractor beam sir, and being pulled in as we speak."

On the bridge, Kylo turned to the young technician who spoke and spoke calmly as usual:

"I want them escorted to the prison ward as soon as they're aboard. I will interrogate the fugitive myself."

As the dark robed figure strode away, the call went out:

"Detention squads to the hanger bay!"

* * *

 **Finalizer, hanger bay**

The AAL landed in the hanger bay, its hatch deployed to allow the FN company to disembark. Back from the planet's main space habitat station, Captain Phasma's company knew the fugitive ship when they saw it.

The cargo shuttle had recently landed, as seen by 87 and Nines amidst the dismissed troopers. Nodding beneath his helmet, nines remarked coyly:

"They'll be ground up before the day's up."

"2199, 2187."

At Phasma's restrained bark, the 2 Stormtroopers snapped to attention, as Phasma turned her head towards the prisoners being escorted from the ship. 2 Ugnauts, and a somewhat resisting human.

"I want you two on the guard roster for the prisoners, effective with the next shift. They mustn't be allowed to escape."

"They won't Ma'am." Nines replied with an upright posture, while 87 hesitated very briefly, before replying:

"Yes Ma'am. What he said."

* * *

Nearby, the resisting Poe gave up, staring in a degree of awe around the hanger bay he and the Ugnauts were being escorted to the end of.

A pair of different troopers came up behind the others, new ones to watch them for the escort part at least.

A few turns, and they had entered a hallway that led to the detention levels.

At the end of the hallway, next to a set of prison cells on the edge of the ship's hull, an imposing black figure stood. Poe recognised him too well from First Order propaganda, and from the village attack.

Stopping before Kylo Ren, the squad saw him point to the two Ugnauts, and then to the prison cell, replying:

"Those two are not the fugitives, this shall suffice."

Poe watched as his two Ugnaut companions were shoved into the prison cell, the door shutting with a metallic hiss, no viewport into the cell showing the Ugnauts' reactions.

Behind Poe, 87 shifted slightly as he suddenly saw Kylo turn towards a Stormtrooper behind him, who stood beside the control panel as Kylo turned to Poe to speak:

"So you don't worry about your friends as we break your mind to reveal what we need to know…"

The Stormtrooper pushed the button, as a slight alarm sounded on the door.

In a viewport, Poe's eyes widened at the sight of the 2 Ugnauts being violently flung into space, spasming and silent as they suffocated in the vacuum and cold of space.

Behind him, unknown to Nines, 87 shuddered slightly, his mind racing, numb to the cruelty he'd just seen.

* * *

 **Detention block, interrogation chamber**

Inside the detention cell, strapped into the restraint chair, Poe shuddered as he awoke once again, gasping as he awoke to the sight of Kylo Ren's helmet staring him right in the face.

"So it was true, the Resistance did send its best pilot. Poe Dameron."

"Yeah, I'm well known, not the way you are though."

"...Where is the map."

"Why not find out yourself? Unless rumors you can do that are a load of-."

Poe suddenly fell silent as Kylo raised a hand and placed its fingers gently upon his forehead, as a familiar pressure began to build in his mind. Resisting, Poe gasped for breath more and more as Kylo focused.

Before long, Poe gave a scream, as Kylo's mind probe burrowed deeper into his mind.

* * *

Leaving Poe unconscious in the interrogation chair, Kylo almost glided from the room, replying curtly to the stormtroopers:

"The planet is Ahch-To, but the map is needed, or else we'll have an entire unmapped sector to search. Prepare a landing party, we will retrieve the other fugitives and the map, a BB unit is carrying a copy of it."

Saluting, the Stormtroopers left, as Kylo strode away to do his own work for now. As the lower ranked troopers remained behind to guard the prisoner, Nines and 87 strode on in their own direction, before 87 mumbled about having to deal with a problem in his helmet.

As Nines walked on, 87 found a nearby corridor alcove, breathing hard as he yanked off his helmet, wiping his brow as he looked back in the general direction he'd come.

Shaking his head, 87 sat in that corridor for a few moments, blinking a few times as his thoughts consumed him.

* * *

 **Finalizer, command bridge**

"Landing party, go for assault. Fighter escort outbound."

Outside the star destroyer, the TIE fighters flew towards the planet surface, as the AALs took off towards the planet shortly after them.

A Black upsilon class shuttle took flight after all the others, the Knight's shuttle ferrying the restless black figure to the battlefield to come.

Warning communications suddenly sounded on the Finalizer bridge however, as one of the other Star Destroyers called in:

" **This is the Retribution, unknown craft have dropped out of hyperspace close to planet and are heading into atmosphere, possible resistance attack!"**

* * *

 **Mas Kenata's castle**

Han stared up at the distant speck that was the closest star destroyer in view, his electrobinoculars showing the dagger shape high above in the mid-afternoon skies overhead clearly to his eyes.

Growling beside Han, Chewbacca gave a slight roar, as Han agreed:

"I know Chewie, they actually did it. All over the holonet, Hosnian Prime attacked. And now they're here."

Grumbling, Chewbacca looked towards some forests at the edge of the castle's grounds and starship landing areas, as Han growled to himself:

"Where'd that girl and the little ball get to, we can't stay here…"

At that moment however, as he gazed through the electro binoculars again, there was a group of specks in the distance, as a squad of TIE fighters entered the planet to head towards the castle's area, making a sighting run as a pair of AAL's came into land that they were covering.

* * *

 **Takodana, forests**

Breathing to herself, Rey came to a stop on top of a small rise, temperate forests and foliage all around her. Brushing a hair from her eyes, Rey shook her head as she then pinched her brow, deep in her own inner thoughts about the vision she'd seen.

But BB-8's beeps disturbed her thought process, the droid having followed her.

Turning around, she bitterly remarked: "No, go back. I want no part of this anymore!"

The little droid whistled slightly, looking downtrodden at her harsh tone.

With a slight sigh, Rey spoke to the little droid:

"I'm just a junk scavenger, not a, not a jedi."

BB-8 whistled lowly, but then squeaked louder all of a sudden as it picked up a distinctive noise overhead.

Turning her head to the sky, she saw them through the treetops. TIE fighters and AALs of the First Order, heading towards the castle, and more fighters flying overhead higher in the skies.

* * *

 **Finalizer, detention level**

87 saw the prisoner, the Resistance pilot, being escorted to a more secure cell in the meanwhile, as he gave pursuit.

"Troopers. I'll take the prisoner from here."

His rifle ready, 87 saw the two troopers turn to look at him with hidden curiosity beneath their helmets, while Poe wearily stood as 87 reminded them:

"Quickly, or I can say you stopped me carrying out Captain Phasma's orders…"

Poe was handed over swiftly, as the two troopers marched past Poe and 87, the latter of whome escorted Poe at gunpoint.

Going down a hallway, 87 tugged Poe suddenly into a hidden away alcove, whispering to follow him.

"What's going on?" Poe asked confusedly. Checking the coast was clear, 87 pulled off his helmet, his face tense as he whispered to Poe:

"Look, I'm getting you out of here, and I'm going with you."

"Wait, wha-?"

"We don't have much time, but your resistance pals are on Takodana, we can get there fast, away from the Order."

Poe brightened up, as he caught the broad strokes of what was going on in this trooper's mind, though he had to still ask:

"Why are you helping me?"

"..Because it's the right thing to do."

Poe blinked a few times, as he then said with some chagrin: "You need a pilot don't you?"

"I need a pilot." 87 nodded, before he popped his helmet back on.

* * *

 **Finalizer, hanger bay**

They'd been getting odd looks, but 87 had been sure to jab his rifle into Poe's back roughly as he escorted him across the hanger bay, keeping up the façade towards a parked AAL.

"Ok, stay calm, stay calm."

"I am calm.." Poe whispered.

"I was talking to myself." 87 whispered back, giving another jab with his rifle as a passing flight tech gave them a passing glance while they walked by.

But Poe's eyes were drawn towards a faster ship. With a whisper, Poe directed Finn to keep him faux guarded as they headed over to one of the special forces two seater TIE fighters, mounted on its fuelling stand.

Knowing attention was on the affairs down on the planet, Poe and 87 quickly scrambled into the cockpit, as 87 took off his helmet while asking frantically:

"Can you fly a TIE fighter?"

"I can fly anything." Poe replied, as he quickly poured over the controls, seeing the startup sequences he'd need. A few switches and buttons, and the systems came online.

Outside the cockpit though, attention was drawn to them from afar, as a siren blared out:

" **Unauthorised fighter launch underway, troopers to main hanger!"**

"We're gone!" Poe exclaimed, pushing the throttle to move them from the stand fast. Suddenly, the TIE lurched violently, as 87 saw to his dismay that the fuel line was still attached, tethering them to the fuelling station as troopers lined up blasters and a mounted gun to take them down.

"Get on the gun!" Poe shouted back, as 87 gave a gulp of hesitation, before he engaged the rear turret. He knew many of those troops vaguely, beneath their white armour and black uniforms, but he was committed at this point.

The turret fired, the green bursts tearing up the hanger floor as 87 sprayed the turret's laser fire across the hanger. Troops flew, the hanger's control room windows were blasted out, but before anything more the fuel line connector on the TIE's body snapped, the thrust from Poe's efforts sending them screaming out into space, away from the Finalizer's underbelly.

* * *

Screaming towards Takodana, 87 yelled to Poe:

"Get planetside, their guns are still seeing this ship as friendly!"

"Yeah, well they aren't!" Poe yelled back, as 87 looked back to see a pair of TIE fighters peel off from a standard patrol flight near the ship to head towards them, accelerating fast.

Getting on the main turret, 87 fired off laser bursts warding off the TIES from a straight shot despite the distance closing. In front, Poe remarked with some awe:  
"This thing can move! Hey, I didn't catch your name, what was it?"

"FN-2187!"

"Wait, they gave you a number?"

"Only name they ever gave me!" Finn yelled, giving a grimace for joy as a laser shot caught one TIE on the wing, sending it spinning off course. But from afar, other TIES peeled from their flights as they screamed into Takodana's upper atmosphere.

"I can't call you a number the whole time. FN, how 'bout Finn!? Huh?"

"Finn, Finn! Yeah, I like it!" 87, but he mentally corrected himself, Finn replied. Poe span the TIE to avoid a laser burst that came too close for their liking, as Finn worked the turret.

Poe rewired the frequency of the comms, while he had a clear path, as he knew there was help:

"This is Poe Dameron, resistance, is anybody receiving me? I have escaped capture in a stolen Order TIE fighter, use my frequency to identify!"

"You sure your friends won't shoot us?" Finn said aloud, as he saw another TIE fighter closing in, as they finally hit the clouds of Takodana's atmosphere after a bumpy ride down:

"Less likely to then yours!"

The TIE they were in screamed through the clouds, as 2 more pursued them reverently through the upper atmosphere.

* * *

 **Takodana castle**

 **Back areas**

Han stood with Chewbacca in the backrooms with Mas, as she urgently gave them a few last things before they had to leave:

"And take this, he will want it!"

"About that, how did you get this anyway?" Han asked suddenly, as Mas handed him the lightsaber that Luke Skywalker once used, as had his father, Anakin. The orange skinned alien gave a small head shake, before curtly remarking:

"A long story, for another time. You must..!"

A rumble overhead disrupted her speech, as Chewbacca growled loudly as Han pocketed Luke's lightsaber, Mas hissing aloud:

"Those beasts! Follow me!"

As Mas took them deeper into the underground levels, a fighter sweep approached the castle, lasers tearing into its structure to begin its collapse.

* * *

 **Takodana, forests**

Even from a distance Rey could see the smoke beginning to rise from the site of Mas's castle, and hear the screams of the TIE fighters. She and BB-8 however, had other issues, as a sound of Stormtrooper radio chatter forced her to duck behind a tree trunk, with BB-8 hiding along with her.

Fumbling with her blaster, Rey peered around the tree, hoping to ambush the troopers as they came around the next bend in the forest terrain, as they seemed to be coming.

But she failed to know of the Black First Order shuttle landing a distance from the castle's collapsing ruins, also on the hunt with the troopers.

* * *

 **Long delayed, but I wanted to ensure my rewrite made sense while repurposing scenes from the movie.**

 **Finn's defection is made final by the spacing of innocents, something I took from the released concepts behind Force Awakens during its pre-production.**

 **In fact, the entire 'third act', instead of Starkiller base, will be on a planet taken from those same concepts that would have been fantastic to see.**

* * *

 **Reviews and/or critique are welcomed.**


	9. The Resistance Arrives

**Takodana, skies**

Flipping upside down to skirt the cloud he flew around, Poe skilfully weaved as the 2 TIE fighters gave him chase, while in the back, the newly named Finn barked back from the tail gunner's seat.

"Hold this thing still!"

"Aim better!" Poe shouted back with a smile, as he banked hard to dive into a nearby cloud. Green lasers traced where he'd been right before he vanished into the clouds, while Poe saw a readout on scanners that made him worried:

"Finn! We're gonna have company soon, don't shoot them!"

"Who?!"

" _ **Black leader, we have your beacon aboard a TIE Fighter, verify."**_

"This is Black Leader, I am aboard the stolen TIE fighter with a defector, do not shoot us. Shooting the ones chasing us would be appreciated though!"

Poe called on the comms, as clearly the Resistance was getting close. Pulling out of the cloud bank, Poe saw a trio of specks approaching ahead, and the barely visible wing formation on their structures making him smile with glee.

In the back seat, Finn saw the two TIEs pull out of the cloud bank just behind them, as he began gunning at them with the turret again. But a set of red laser blasts tore apart one of the TIEs, while the other suddenly veered away in a violent manoeuvre, as a pair of X-wings screamed by in pursuit at great speed, and a third banking up and away.

" _ **We see you Black leader, scanners show you as friendly now. You owe us."**_

"I'll make it up later. Good shooting." Poe's call from the foreward cockpit clued Finn in on this, as he calmed down slightly:

"Where now?"

"I got friends on the surface that need rescuing. I bet the other hot shots are already there."

The TIE fighter banked away towards the south, tearing through the skies with a single X-wing flying on ahead, the other two busy elsewhere with the last TIE fighter.

* * *

 **Takodana, Mas Kanata's palace ruins**

TIE fighters swarmed overhead, as Stormtroopers attacked the former bar guests fleeing to their ships, and scouring the ruins for the fugitives. But their leader was less violent in his own pursuit.

Striding through some of the ruins, Kylo Ren regarded this hovel's wreckage silently, surveying the battlegrounds.

"Sir, the droid was spotted heading west, with a girl!"

The stormtrooper's call to him made Kylo's head turn in the same direction, already mulling over his quarry being close now.

* * *

Stomtroopers swarmed the collapsed palace ruins, as a few of the patrons rushing to their ships in a nearby landing port were intercepted by squads of the First Order. Blaster fire exchanged across the castle's crumbled structure, as the smugglers did battle to a losing extent, their numbers dwindling fast.

With a growl, one stone slab was lifted away by a large Wookie, as behind him Han Solo rushed out of the ruins, Mas Kenada behind him. Chewbacca unfolded his bowcaster, as a few Stormtroopers a way's away noticed them emerge.

"Now go, find your friends, get away from here!"

"What about you!?" Han replied, as Chewbacca fired off a bowcaster shot while advancing. Mas shook her head swiftly, yanking Han's lightsaber carrying hand up for him to see:

"I have dealt with worse! You have his saber, now find him!"

Han head more TIE fighters flying overhead, as some Stormtroopers flocked towards them. The little orange alien scrambled away over the ruins, yelling back to him in an impatient tone of hers: "GO!"

"Come on Chewie!" Han bellowed, pulling out his blaster pistol as a few Stormtroopers closed in. As the Wookie took cover from a few blasts coming his way, Han shot the nearest approaching trooper with his pistol, while he spun to shoot another in the shoulder. Instinctively, he raised his pistol sideways to a noise of a charging blaster rifle and fired, before he spun to see he'd somehow managed to hit a Stormtrooper right in the neck. Sparing a quick glance and a bemused shrug at his blaster, and his amazing luck just then, Han darted off across the ruins, as more Stormtroopers came their way.

In the distance, a freighter craft taking off was hit by blasts from Stormtroopers on the ground, the 50 metre ship beginning to spin out of control in its hover before crashing into the outskirts of the castle ruins.

Darting between a few pillars, blaster bolts hitting their surroundings periodically, Han ducked behind a low wall section of the ruins, tantalisingly close to the tree line, near the clearing where the Falcon was hidden a half kilometre away.

Roughly slamming into the wall beside him, Chewbacca roared as he fired off another bowcaster round at a pair of troopers tailing them, blasting one off his feet and forcing the other to cover behind a ruined pillar further back.

"They just keep coming…"

Han murmured under his breath while Chewbacca fired another round, before the smuggler reached back to open one of Chewbacca's shoulder bandolier pouches, the Wookie nodding as Han pulled out a sphere shaped object.

Flicking the switch on top, Han threw the thermal detonator over the wall towards a clearing ahead of them, ducking down as some troopers began to advance.

A deep, bass-heavy sounding blast rocked the clearing, as a heat wave and shockwaves raised a cloud of dust and smoke ahead of them, as Han pulled the Wookie out with him in a run.

Blaster fire followed them into the cloud, and they managed to reach a forest tree before the troopers came through the smoke.

Suddenly, Chewbacca roared in a high pitched manner, stumbling as a blaster bolt hit him in the back of the shoulder. Spinning mid run and calling out his name in panic, Han dragged the Wookie to his feet to stumble around the tree trunk. As the Wookie groaned at the pain of the powerful blast, Han patted his good shoulder as he gently took the Bowcaster:

"Lemme borrow this."

Aiming around the tree, Han fired the bowcaster, eyes widening slightly at the kickback as the shots didn't so much blow the troopers back as they did blast the ground around them apart. More blaster bolts tore around them as Han ducked around, murmuring to the Wookie with a gesture to the forest:

"We gotta move, you can shrug off a little shot like that can't you?"

As Chewbacca nodded, Han gave a wry smile as he heard shouts rise from the Stormtroopers drawing nearer the forest edge. But over these shouts, panicked shouts, were starfighter engine noises from the distant lake. They were not First Order TIE fighters.

The first of the Resistance X-wings had arrived.

Screaming across the lake surface, water skimming by their low altitude, the incoming squadron had drawn the attention of the troopers as they came within range. Laser fire began to rip into the grounds around the ruined castle, as the First Order TIE fighter backup screamed in from further away to intercept, a few X-wings already breaking up to intercept while the rest began to pound the ground forces.

Chewbacca growled in triumph while Han stared at the same sight, shaking his head as he looked at Chewbacca:

"Another thing I owe her for… Come on. Rey and the ball will be easier to find if they haven't already reached the Falcon."

As the battle unfolded overhead, Han and Chewbacca tore off into the forest, but not before a screaming TIE fighter roared overhead, tearing through the skies towards a TIE fighter pursuing a low flying X-wing.

But the moment it opened fire on the other TIE, Han couldn't help but share a confused look with the Wookie, who couldn't help but shrug in utter confusion at the sight of the rogue TIE fighter.

The pair were shambling off into the forest towards the hidden Millenium Falcon not 2 seconds after this strange, but thankfully helpful development.

* * *

 **Forest areas**

"BB, go further into the woods, they mustn't find you." Rey spoke in a low tone to the droid, gesturing with her head further into the forests. BB-8 whistled lowly, before Rey flashed him an impatient look as she gestured with her blaster to the forest:

"Get to Han while I distract them comin-."

Cutting her off was the sound of Stormtrooper chatter coming from a nearby forest clearing, as Rey turned her head towards the noise. A few chirruping beeps from BB-8, as well as a brief head turn as it started off, and the little droid was wheeling through the undergrowth, as Rey slowly crept through the forest treelines, checking her blaster was ready.

* * *

Gently shuffling from around the tree trunk, Rey raised her pistol, and seeing the patrolling Stormtrooper, she squeezed the trigger. Nearly swearing aloud, Rey saw the shot hit the tree trunk just behind the trooper, which got his attention very quickly.

"Hey, stop!" The Stormtrooper spotted her by the shot's direction, and he raised his blaster rifle to fire. Acting quickly, Rey ducked around a tree as the blaster shots missed, hot tree bark flying through the air. Waiting for a pause, Rey fired a few shots back, the 3rd hitting the Stormtrooper in the chest to send him sprawling on his back.

More shouts from other troopers came, as Rey tore off into the forests, in a different direction from BB-8's way. Firing the odd shot here and there, she made sure the troopers were following her, as she darted into the forests as a lure.

In the distance however, the sounds of fighters in the air suddenly increased in volume, as well as a few louder than normal explosions.

Strangely though, as the ventured further into the forest, she heard only those noises, as all other noise in the forest seemed to suddenly cease.

Gazing around, she heard very little, save for the rustle of the wind on the leaves, yet something felt off.

Jumping down into a small gully, wood and old rock forming it into a sort of trench, Rey peered about, and she began to hear things that shouldn't be there.

* * *

Hums of lightsabers, boot stomps, rainfall, and even that crackle of a ligthsaber that seemed distorted compared to others she thought she'd heard. What she'd seen and heard in the vision played in her mind, but the forest lay silent.

* * *

Blaster out, heartbeat quickening, Rey backed up, checking every dark crevice and nook in the gully, behind trees, as she trod as quietly as she could. The forest was quiet now, yet the menace lurked.

* * *

And then, the menace surged out from behind a rock, as the crackling, distorted sounding lightsaber sprang forth with its rippling red hue, its red light barely reflected off the black robes and dark coloured helmet of the figure who wielded it, the one she saw in the vision slaughtering jedi and their associates.

Gasping in shock, Rey backed up, firing her blaster at the advancing Kylo Ren, but his lightsaber waved, deflecting her blasts and rising a cloud of smoke as they hit the rocks around them. Stumbling back further and further, Rey glanced to see the trench sloped up steeply to the forest, before she turned to frantically fired off more blaster rounds at Kylo Ren.

The bolts impacted around him, missing, he was in no danger from her panicked aiming. Heart thundering in her chest, Rey scrambled up the ledge, firing with reckless abandon at the advancing figure and backing up the entire time.

As Kylo walked more slowly up the slope, his lightsaber waved to deflect more bolts as Rey's aim became more focused. With a small scowl on her face, Rey pulled the trigger more rapidly as Kylo drew level with her from 10 metres away, forcing him to swing his saber faster to deflect the bolts. After one more wave however, he thrust out his hand.

The air around Rey seemed to solidify, her blaster arm wrenching backwards to face its muzzle to the ground, her stance solidified by this invasive force around her, seemingly coming from Kylo Ren's own hand. After a few moments of shock, Rey's face scrunched in focus as she tried to move, but her efforts were in vain.

* * *

Advancing slowly, Kylo Ren drew himself a few metres from her, his lightsaber still crackling beside him as he regarded her with a tone reflecting his unimpressed view of her:

"The girl I've heard so much about…"

Advancing slowly around her, Rey still being unable to move despite her strains, Kylo Ren asked with utter bluntness in his tone:

"The droid, where is it?"

Turning, he emphasised his query with his lightsaber coming around to hover just inches from the side of her head, crackling in Rey's terrified eyes as she was helpless to move.

* * *

 **Takodana, castle ruins**

Stormtroopers fired up at the X-wings, though a few were gunned down for their efforts by the fighters. But it was the one TIE fighter that had gone rogue that was doing the most damage in battle.

Banking up and over, green lasers tore apart another TIE fighter as Poe had got into his rhythm, swooping low to strafe the ground yet again with the green bursts, blasting rock, stone and Stormtroopers where he opened fire.

Looping over, pulling onto the tail of another TIE fighter, Poe let loose a barrage, the TIE's array wing flying off to send it spiralling to the ground in a smoking fireball on impact. He danced through the air, even in this once 'enemy' fighter craft.

In the back of the cockpit, Finn stared out at the battle unfolding, as he saw the TIE fighter Poe shot down careen into the forest in a long trail of trees falling and catching ablaze, shouting back to Poe:

"You're one hell of a pilot!"

Laughing with glee, Poe rolled them once again as he saw the Stormtroopers on the ground begin to fall back:

"C'mon, we got them on the run!"

Overhead, a single X-wing swooped in to fly alongside the stolen TIE fighter, as a few more First Order fighters came at them.

* * *

 **Takodana, forest clearing**

Straining against her unseen stasis, Rey sweated profusely as Kylo's outreached hand seemed to wring its way into her mind, the hum of his lightsaber gone, to be replaced by this pounding feeling of invasion of her very psyche:

"The map, you've seen it…"

Rey struggled, her mind beginning to go, as she then heard something that Kylo did as well. A Stormtrooper following Kylo called out:

"Sir, Resistance Fighters, we need more troops!"

Striding around, Rey still in his stasis hold, Kylo quickly made a snap decision:

"Pull the division out, forget the droid, we have what we need."

At his last word, he had a slight wave of his hand, as Rey then suddenly felt her mind empty, turn blank, and turn black, as if suddenly forced into sleep.

As Rey began to collapse, Kylo caught her, lifting her unconscious form into his arms to carry back to the shuttle.

* * *

 **Mas Kenata's palace ruins**

As the fighters screamed overhead, the TIEs managed to fight off the X-wings fiercely enough that the First Order AAL's could begin to retreat more safely. Striding to the Upsilon class shuttle with Rey in his arms, Kylo Ren boarded the shuttle as the Stormtroopers began to shut the doors.

But from afar, as he had doubled back after gathering more equipment from the Falcon, Han had seen the figure from afar, having seen the other Stormtroopers also leaving. With his electrobinoculars, Han glimpsed the hooded figure boarding the shuttle with Rey in his possession, and a look of distant sadness marred his face as he hung his head.

He was quiet as the shuttle took off, tearing skywards as they flew off skywards, while the X-wings and one defected TIE fighter flew around to mop up the remaining TIE fighters and one AAL that was too slow.

His head hung, Han strode back through the forest, knowing he full well may have to leave too.

* * *

 **Later, same ruins**

X-wings had begun to land, as BB-8 rolled through the throngs of Resistance milling about the ruins. The little droid beeped at the sights of many pilots it recognised, yet it was the TIE fighter parked with them that drew its gaze.

As it rolled by, idle talk from some pilots carried through the air:

"Just pulled back, didn't even bombard from orbit or anything."

Ahead though, BB-8 saw a familiar smuggler waiting with a Wookie, whose shoulder was wrapped in a makeshift bandage, standing as a wide corvette ship came into land.

Yet it was still the gathering around the TIE fighter that it rolled towards.

As it rolled through, amidst the chatting pilots, Poe stood beside a rather nervous looking dark human, clad in Stormtrooper armour yet not shooting or holding a gun at all. Seeing BB-8, Poe excitedly bent down as the Droid rolled up to greet him:

"BB-8 you little bud, you made it! Am I glad to see you! Where's Rey?"

BB-8's excited beeps at meeting Poe again ceased immediately, as the little droid looked down somewhat, its channels having heard that the First Order had taken the girl prisoner. Poe's own face fell at this, while Finn asked quietly:

"Who took her?"

"Your boss, Kylo Ren…" A pilot muttered as he walked by, looking over Finn's helmetless stormtrooper gear with a mild look of contempt.

Finn's gaze turned distant at this, he knew full well who Ren was. Poe turned to the pilot with a quick remark:

"Hey, ex-boss, leave him alone."

It was clear there were some ill thoughts towards First Order soldiers, even if they'd betrayed their kind and helped. Finn turned to Poe, asking:

"Was she important?"

"A friend, she got caught up in my mission…"

"And the Order wanted her for questioning because she was with you… Yeah, just like them." Finn finished for Poe, before the pilot turned to see the landing corvette nearby, Han and Chewbacca standing near it as the doors began to open.

Standing up, Poe pulled Finn with him, saying: "Come on, she'll wanna meet you."

Complying, Finn came with Poe, as BB-8 wheeled ahead of them both, while Resistance engineers from that same corvette shuffle by them as the first to disembark, heading for their stolen TIE fighter.

* * *

Up ahead though, Han waited for her face, with a mixture of longing, and dread.

Sure enough, as a few more officers disembarked, General Leia Organa's face appeared, a mild look of surprise at seeing him waiting for her flashing across her face, made weary by 30 years of life harder than they need be.

Walking towards Han, Leia suddenly stopped as a golden protocol Droid stepped before the smuggler, his tone ecstatic:

"General Solo, it is such an honour to meet you again! I am C-3PO, you probably don't recognise me because of the red arm, it has been so long since we've met in person!"

Mid turn, as the droid had noticed the wary look Han was giving the droid, as he turned to see the expectant look Leia was giving the droid too. Stuttering somewhat, C-3PO mumbled a quick pardon as he shuffled ahead, meeting BB-8, who had wheeled on ahead of the other two to meet the droid:

"Yes, I really must get my arm properly fixed…"

As the droids shuffled away, Han and Leia stood awkwardly apart from each other, as Chewbacca hung back enough for them to awkwardly talk before the landed corvette:

"Haven't spoken face to face, not even holo… Didn't know you changed your hair."

Leia shuffled slightly, remarking bluntly at his own attire while not moving once: "Same jacket?"

"No, new jacket..." Han replied quietly, thankful that Chewbacca came around him at that moment, growling lightly with his arms spread in a hugging motion. Leia smiled as the Wookie engulfed her, letting the Wookie really let it be known how much he missed her before letting her go to shuffle back into the corvette that had come to pick lend aid.

Staring at Leia, Han replied with any sarcasm, wit or humour gone from his tone:

"I saw him Leia. Kylo Ren, he was here."

Sharing a deeply conflicted look, Han and Leia could say nothing more on the subject, as they had to move out. The First Order had left Takodana, but there still remained an issue.

Further back, Finn looked around, regarding the helmet he still held, his Stormtrooper outfit feeling dirty on him. Beside him though, Poe and BB-8 strode away, the pilot clapping Finn on the shoulder to come with him. Hesitating only briefly, Finn followed, knowing he was in deep now.

He just hoped that the end would come swiftly for where they'd likely taken Rey.

* * *

 **Here is where the main story will begin to truly diverge from the main plot of TFA, but the ending will be the same.**

 **Namely, the setting will be very different, using concept art from the TFA that would see a type of planet setting we haven't seen before in Star Wars movies. One that in its setting also does worldbuilding in showing how the First Order built an established military out in the unknown regions, a key being leftover Imperial era tech that helps in manufacturing, and also a key feature brought up in behind the scenes aspects of certain First Order weapons.**

 **Instead of a superweapon, it is a weapons facility that is responsible for special projects, like the reflective armour on the Hosnian Prime kamikaze star destroyer, or the Kyber crystals that enhance the star destroyer weapons.**

 **Being heavily defended for being a manufacturing base makes it ideal for other assets to be in the same place too, like prisons.**

 **But it is from here on that Finn becomes much more involved, as his knowledge of First Order operations helps infiltrate with Han and Chewbacca, and the Resistance is more organised and capable than shown, though only somewhat.**


	10. Plans of attack

**Planet D'qar**

* * *

The small fleet flew towards the Resistance home base, the ringed planet looming far ahead of them, the events of Takodana left behind for now, as there was so much to be done.

The New Republic was in shambles, its political head and capital on Hosnian Prime destroyed by the First Order's meteorite style attack on the city, and the infiltration that allowed it to bypass the powerful shields. And with the Republic fleet's main battlegroup significantly ruined, help was not to be expected.

* * *

 **Resistance base**

As the main ship landed, Finn sat nervously in the seat while the others quickly disembarked. He stared down at the Stormtrooper helmet he still carried, clutching it nervously in his hands while staring at it blankly.

As the rest had already disembarked, the sight of the Millenium Falcon landing further down the landing area got Poe's attention from the doorway. But sparing a glance back, the pilot strode over to yank Finn to his feet:

"Hey, c'mon. We'd better get moving, they'll want to hear anything you know."

"I can't just walk out there looking like this!"

"Hey, word spread fast of the Stormtrooper who helped earlier. Besides, they've never seen one without their helmet on, just lose the helmet, they'll figure out you're not with them."

Shaking his head with a slight exasperated laugh, Finn remarked: "Yeah, you wouldn't believe how much we'd get nagged for having our helmets off when on duty."

Looking at Finn again, Poe decided to offer something: "Here, you can have this. I figure you saved my skin, so, you could use something to wear that isn't white and black."

Taking off his jacket, Poe handed it to Finn, who stared at it with surprise, noting the brown and slight red and black marks on it with mild interest. Looking at Poe, Finn shook his head:

"I can't…"

"Sure you can, besides, it'll suit you. Now come on, can't keep the General waiting."

Beside Poe, BB-8 chirped up, the little droid rolling out ahead of them as Poe walked out down the ramp.

Slowly, Finn walked out, Poe's jacket tucked under his arm with his helmet in the same hand, staring around at the sight of the pilots milling back and forth with the ground crew, the X-wing models and even a few Y-wings, a disassembled A-wing sat in a hanger being out of flight for now.

The former Stormtrooper attracted some looks, but more of surprise and curiosity than suspicion. True, nobody had seen a helmetless Stormtrooper before.

Hurrying along, Finn caught up with Poe and BB-8, as Finn mumbled under his breath:

"Okay, okay, just relax…"

"Do all Stormtroopers talk to themselves?" Poe asked jokingly, while BB-8 chirped in a laugh of its own. Finn snapped a look to Poe, before he looked at the ground while they walked, replying:

"Only the ones who've turned away from the Order, they probably have me labelled as a traitor already."

"Come on Finn, the Order's not here, not like they can get you."

"They got the Republic didn't they? Can't blame me for being nervous."

Poe turned silent at that, as he heard BB-8 whistle lowly at this as it wheeled beside them.

As they walked, Finn paid a little attneiton to some service droids refuelling an X-wing nearby, as Poe admitted lowly:

"Can't believe they crashed an entire star destroyer into the senate and city… And those spies inside it disabled the city shields, no chance. And now Rey's captured too."

"I know. Reflective armour, get rid of old imperial leftover ships, big part of my posting a few years back. Guard duty, probably where your friend was…"

"Wait, you knew about this?" Poe suddenly asked, to which Finn suddenly became nervous:

"I worked on the planet that the program came from, big First Order complex, real big industrial place. I only just figured out when I heard what was used."

Poe looked at Poe with some interest, as he mumbled: "The General's going to want to hear this."

* * *

 **Resistance Base**

 **Communications centre**

Poe came over to where Leia was discussing plans over a holomap with another Resistance planner, Finn right beside him and ready to begin:

"General Organa, this is Finn, he needs to talk to you."

"And I need to talk to him, that was incredibly brave what you did, renouncing the First Order, saving this man's life."

"Yeah, not that it did much to stop their bigger plans." Finn admitted, the last of the white plastoid armour panels having been peeled off his leggings. Poe's jacket now was worn over his torso, and he somehow felt much more free than he'd ever felt. Even in the presence of the supposed enemy leader.

"Hosnian Prime's loss, its on everyone's minds." Leia admitted.

"Yeah, but I worked on the base where the weapons used were built, researched and everything. The First Order has it in a remote area, it has most of its own resources to make it harder to track by shipments."

Leia looked at Poe, who merely nodded to confirm this, while Finn then quickly added:

"And that's where a friend of Poe's was taken. Like I said, it's a big self-sufficient base, well hidden, so the First Order made it a high profile prison too."

"Han told me about the girl, I'm sorry."

"General, if Finn knows the base, he could help us make a counterattack. Maybe even help get Rey back." Poe added.

"We're desperate for any information you have on that base. We can have a recon flight out fast to help gather more intel, but we need your insight."

Finn shared a look with Poe, as he then asked:

"You help me arrange a break in, I have to get there and get, Rey, out. They took her for some big reason, and it can't be good."

"And I will do everything I can to help but first you have to tell us all you know." Leia stressed to Finn, the former Stormtrooper nodding as Leia directed him to a meeting room nearby, whilst Poe wandered off elsewhere for now, their own duties to handle for now. BB-8 rolled after Leia, the droid having its own duties to fulfil after Finn began to share his information.

* * *

Off in a medical wing, Chewbacca had his arm tended to by a Resistance nurse, the female human speaking to the Wookie as he regaled in his own tongue the story of his injury to his shoulder and arm:

"You must have been very brave." She spoke offhandedly, as if addressing any other patient in a conciliatory manner.

Shrugging, the hairy beast rumbled in agreement as she continued to bandage the blaster wound with a series of bacta patches.

* * *

Later on, watching from nearby, as Finn relayed what he knew to some intelligence officers at another table, Leia looked at the former trooper with a distant gaze as she stared back at the display screen before her, the green lines denoting the map data that BB-8 uploaded.

"Master Luke went here, then headed to the Ahch-To system, alone it seems, no other jedi. First Order tracked them, another Knight of Ren, but I'm afraid that's all there is."

C-3PO regaled the summarised data to General Leia, BB-8 and Han, who stared at the projected map and data with mixed looks each.

"Two losses, he must've been devastated. And now the order may have this map too if that girl cracks." Han remarked with some morbid tones in his voice, to which Leia shook her head in exasperation as she stared at the data projected before her:

"Can't believe I was so foolish to believe I could find Luke and bring him home…"

"Leia." Han started, staring at the shorter woman with a look of mixed fondness and sadness, to which Leia turned in bitterness as she replied:

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Anything…"

With a look of tiredness, Han stared at C-3PO as the former Princess quietly stormed off, the protocol droid shaking his head slightly with a scoff, turning back to the screen before him.

"Princesses."

Turning to follow her, Han caught up to the General, pleading quietly:

"Hey, you asked my help in this with the pilot pickup, I'm just trying to be helpful again."

With an audible scoff, Leia remarked with some venom in her tone to Han without looking at him:

"When has that ever helped? And don't say the Death Star…"

As Leia came to a table projection showing the current state of the base, Han walked up beside her, quietly tugging on her arm as he spoke:

"Leia, I know what's bothering you, what we lost in this whole mess with the order. We lost our son, forever."

Leia turned quiet, as she turned to see Han's face devoid of any emotion other than sincerity. With a mild pleading look, Leia told Han to his face:

"No, it was Snoke. He took our son from us. But we can still save him, me, and you."

"If Luke couldn't save him, how can I?" Han asked Leia directly. The General shook her head, now somewhat pleading with Han:

"He was a Jedi, you're his father. Our son is out there, if anyone is dedicated enough to find him, it's you. He is still out there, I know it."

Han was hesitant, before an interruption came from a nearby Resistance battle strategist:

"General, we're ready to begin."

Turning from Han, Leia nodded for them to start soon, as she turned to Han once more. With a sigh, she turned to leave, while Han stood back for a moment, running a hand through his grey hair as he thought over Leia's words.

* * *

 **Resistance, main conference room**

The gathering of pilots, strategists and techs from the Resistance base saw the projection of the planet over their heads in the green hue, as the Resistance intelligence commander began running through the information that Finn helped provide.

The planet had a ring structure around it, but the terrain itself was rocky and frozen, but with some strange darker areas where the cold climate gave way at the equator to warmer areas. But some dark spots were odd where they were, including the one which housed the target.

"Okay, we have recent confirmation from recon flights, based on our defector's intelligence."

The planet zoomed in, revealing a large facility on a mountain ridge line, a few red hued areas below and around it.

"The planet's name is Loneh, home to a large First Order facility. The place is a gigantic factory complex, built on top of a large Kyber crystal source, and other valuable resources are in the mountain range or from asteroids around the planet's ring. It is also a small prison, built there for how hard to find it was for us."

Finn chimed in at this point: "The First Order uses the crystals to make their lasers on the big ships more powerful, focuses them. But its also used for new research and development, including reflective armour."

Some holographic display images of the Hosnian prime star destroyer flashed by, before some metal panels on its outside were shown in detail. The strategist then refocused on the planet and facility:

"But other technology under development are improvements to all First order weapons and new tech, much of which expands on research projects started back in the Empire's last days."

Bringing up details of the base structure, Finn pointed to the veins of red that ran beneath and around the structure:

"The whole base sits near some lava tubes, the volcanic systems bring valuable resources into easier reach, big deposits of crystals and metals. Makes the whole place able to largely manufacture for itself."

"So this place will churn out new terror weapons left alone. Which is why we have to strike back now. Its advanced, but because of how remote it is they haven't defended it as well as some other more known First Order bases. But they may before long after the Hosnian attack."

Nearby, as he had examined the data, the Mon Calamari leader Ackbar asked the obvious:

"What kind of defences are on this base?"

"The standard base defences, but it gets tricky. The place is covered in shields and the armour it also built, and the place is hardened enough to withstand orbital bombardment."

"So how do we blow it up? Its big and tough, surely it has some weakness right?" Han asked outright, to which the strategist highlighted the same lava flows near the base.

"The whole place is situated near a lava vein feeding off a volcano, a big one, more resources to be dug up that way from beneath the base. It vents lava and triggers mini earthquakes to keep it stable, so it doesn't all go off at once."

A projectile came in a specific direction from the skies, bombarding the base's eastern landing areas in a systematic fashion, a few shockwaves coming from the impact zones and travelling downwards in circles.

"If we can trigger the same tectonic forces that let them harvest the resources easily all at once, the volcanic eruption should take out the base from below and the sides."

On the screen, a few red flashes from beneath and from the nearby mountain ridge the base sat below flared out, engulfing the base for all to see.

A few other Resistance strategists spoke up at this point:

"We can't let the First Order bring out any new surprise weapons, the Republic can't help us right now with their fleet in shambles. We can strike now and cripple the Order while they're confident."

"Maybe stop the creation of new technology for a good while from their end." Another chimed in.

Unlike some though, Han was skeptical, as he asked the obvious:

"If?"

"It isn't the first time we've faced tough odds. How can it be done?" Leia asked, dismissing Han's skepticism.

"We can re-purpose some concussion warheads into bigger ones, but we can't do anything unless the shields are down. We can't hit the landing areas that sit above the point closest to the lava veins beneath the base otherwise." The strategist explained.

At this point, Finn cut in one more time: "I can disable the shields, but I need to be on the planet. While down there maybe wreak some havoc with a prison break to draw attention or something."

Han looked at Finn, pointing at him with some laughter: "I like this guy. I can get you there."

Beside him, Chewbacca nodded in agreement, before Leia cut in from across the display table.

"Han how?" Leia asked outright, to which Han shifted with some mischievous nervousness as he remarked:

"If I told you, you wouldn't like it."

As Leia went silent, Poe cut in, already partially suited up:

"So we take out the shields, raise hell in there if we can, hit the trigger point, bring their secret factory down from under them."

At this, Chewbacca roared loudly, a signal across the conference room to move out, as Poe clapped the table loudly with the declaration:

"Alright, let's go!"

* * *

Outside, the fighter pilots and the technies rushed around, making sure the fighters were ready to move out when the command came.

As Poe jumped from the cockpit, BB-8 being raised up to the droid holster of his X-wing, he glanced over to see Finn moving past, blaster in hand and still clad in his black jumpsuit and his jacket over it.

Ducking under his black painted T-70 X-wing, Poe clapped Finn on the shoulder as he passed, the former Stormtrooper glancing back with a small nod before turning to jog towards the Millenium Falcon in the distance.

A short while later, as Han and Chewbacca readied the Falcon for launch, Finn shuffled through the equipment boxes, checking some hardware they'd need.

"Chewie check that thermal capitator, come on let's go!"

The Wookie grumbled as he shuffled about, opening a panel on the side of the Falcon to check some wiring and circuitry as instructed. Glancing sideways, Han saw Finn fiddling with some detonator charges with a curious expression:

"Finn be careful with those, they're explosive."

"Now you tell me?" Finn mumbled nervously, placing the one he held back into the crate carefully as Han turned to double check the fuel line's feed to the Falcon's engine connection. Behind him though, a voice drew his attention.

"You know, no matter how much we fought, I've always hated watching you leave."

Turning with a shrug as Leia stood a few metres from him, Han remarked as he walked towards her at the same time:

"That's why I did it, so you'd miss me."

"I have missed you."

Staring at each other, Han decided to simply embrace Leia without a word, the old woman leaning into the hug with her head on his jacket chest, taking in his warmth.

"Just be careful. And, make sure they don't find out where Luke is too."

Pulling away, Han gave a small smirk as he offered playfully:

"When am I not Princess? And we'll find your brother before they get their hands on him."

Leia's look would have vanished that same smirk from anyone else's face, but Han merely dropped his slightly as he backed up, heading over to Chewbacca whilst Leia turned to head back to the base's communications centre.

All the while, Finn stared at the departing General, and to the smuggler currently talking with the Wookie over the circuit panels that were still to be inspected before they left.

He still couldn't believe these were the infamous Resistance and Rebel individuals he'd heard so much about.

All the while though, he thought of the base he was heading to, and of what was to come. Truthfully, the girl was a low priority. If she was lost with the base, it at least meant the First Order wouldn't get the map to Skywalker.

* * *

 **Here is where the story starts to diverge somewhat. Finn is driven to take out the base, and then rescue this 'Rey' as a secondary goal. But in tying in with Rey's character arc of learning to be more open and trusting of people, this is where her and Finn's interaction come the base arc will come into play.**

 **And here is where I banish Starkiller Base and replace it with a high tech research and manufacturing facility, doubling as a prison complex for how remote and independent it is.**

 **And it will be big, but because it is a factory it self-explains how it is big, it literally built itself.**

* * *

 **Cocussion warheads to trigger earthquakes isn't entirely fiction, earhtquake bombs go as far back as WW2. Just taking it a step further to set off a full blown volcanic eruption the First Order normally eases pressure off of to draw power from it.**

* * *

 **Next chapter shall be Rey on the base itself, and bringing in Kylo Ren, Hux, the whole lot.**

 **And how Han/Chewie/Finn get onto the base itself will be different, no more nanosecond reaction time by Han coming out of hyperspace scenario, but a stealthier approach harkening back to an Episode 6 plot device that is viable by Finn's presence. I'm really utilizing his former First Order ties to full advantage.**

 **As for the Loneh planet's base itself, here is where I start drawing on concept art for the planet itself, that of a hybrid snow and volcanic planet.**

* * *

 **Please review/critique as one might, as here is where my individual take starts to really take hold. TFA's ending status remains the same, but the journey is changed.**


	11. The Loneh Facility

**Loneh, First Order Advanced Weaponry Facility**

The AAL flew from the Resurgence Star Destroyer hanging in orbit, one of 2 in fact, along with a handful of other smaller frigates and corvettes that orbited the planet. Descending to the planet surface, the lander skirted over the terrain once it had punched through the clouds.

Blizzards covered the planet in a thick layer of snow, the black mountain ridges arching across the skies beyond the horizon. Yet over parts of the planet, including this one, large rivers of magma surfaced, as the planet's geologically active nature cracked through to the surface to glow in the night.

Flying across, to a section of the planet where the surface lava became less obvious, a massive facility came into view up ahead, where mag train and vehicle roadway extended from it to a few tower structures beyond it. Around and near the towers some small rivulets of lava were streaming, venting towers for the facility's geothermal power plant, given how close they tapped the lava flows underneath the planet surface, and the magma chamber nearby in a large low lying mountain volcano.

A means to prevent an eruption, and to ensure the massive power there allowed the facility all the energy it needed.

Coming to land on one of the myriad of landing platforms, the AAL unfolded its ramp, a few Stormtroopers saluting as General Hux disembarked. Passing the troopers, he turned to the pedway, glancing sideways to see the massive assembly area nearby at the centre of the complex, a massive open expanse of smoothed concrete and metal that acted as a larger loading area than for mere shuttles. A small cruiser could land there if need be.

* * *

As he walked down the hallway, the transparisteel panes revealing the assembly plant below, General Hux gave a stiff nod to the younger corporal, datapad in her hand as she walked beside him.

"Make sure the newer prototype blueprints are forwarded to the manufacturing divisions on schedule. And arrange for the new supply chains the Supreme Leader has authorised, let the Fabrication corps know he expects similar results from the other projects."

"Yes Sir."

As the Corporal saluted before heading off to her duties, Hux turned to look out the hallway's viewport walls, his eyes beholding the forest of assembly lines, fabrication chambers, assembly droids and engineering corps troopers that peppered the massive space.

With a small grin of pride in this hub of research and manufacture of new weapons, Hux turned, and strode down the hallway without another word.

* * *

Outside the manufacturing and development facility, the scope of the facility could be seen, the large assembly area that was flanked by the shield generator complex, main factory and laboratories, the upper parts of the geothermal plant and the loading bays of the Crystal and mineral mines. Beyond it, a faintly glowing mountain ridge, where a few streams of magma came to the surface, along with a few larger craters where larger magma pools sat bubbling away.

But stretching out from the main factory facility were mag-loop tramways, trains running inside the tube that serviced mining facilities elsewhere on this region of the planet. The transparent steel that marked many points along the tubes show the pods running through them from time to time, each line a double tube, one line going to the factory, the other away in parallel. 5 lines, some burrowing through parts of the mountain.

One set of mag-loop lines ran down the wide, snow covered valley, towards a distant smaller facility a few miles away.

The main command building, communications center, and the detention block.

* * *

 **First order Loneh facility, command center building.**

 **Detention level**

Awaking with a jolt, Rey felt her wrists and ankles bound to the cold metal chair she was in, leaning back somewhat compared to the floor.

Straining briefly against them, she gave up as she noticed a familiar black figure in front of her, knelt down on his knees in an almost praying like pose, but staring right at her face.

Gulping, her face in a nervous sweat, she spoke with a dryness in her mouth:

"Where am I?"

Not moving at all, the masked figure replied in a baritone voice:

"You're my guest."

"Where are the others?"

"You mean the murderers, traitors and thieves you call friends? …You'll be relieved to hear I have no idea."

Breathing as he seemed utterly calm in this whole situation, in control, Rey tried to keep calm herself. But she was barely keeping a level head, and Kylo knew this.

"You still want to kill me."

"That happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask…"

Kylo seemed to stare up her for a moment, contemplating something, thinking. At that moment, he slowly stood up, and a clicking came to Rey's ears as she saw Kylo slowly pulling out his lightsaber, his fingers lightly stroking the handle, slowly advancing on her.

With a silent step, he tantalizingly pressed the nozzle of the lightsaber into Rey's throat, making her choke slightly as he pressed it uncomfortably into her windpipe. Her eyes darting around, she saw his finger slide slowly towards the ignition button.

A moment of tense silence followed, before Kylo pulled back slowly, placing the lightsaber aside on a nearby pedestal by the interrogation chair for now.

She would have seen the light grin at his threatening gesture if he'd removed his mask, but she suspected the mask was just as soulless as the man beneath it, and removing it would not reveal much more.

Coming around to her front, Kylo Ren calmly spoke, his metallic voice as calm as ever:

"Tell me about the droid, the one that was travelling with the pilot Poe Dameron."

Taking a nervous breath, knowing this man was incredibly dangerous, Rey began almost breathlessly:

"He's a BB unit with a Selenium drive and a thermal hyperscan vindicator-."

"It's carrying a section of a navigational chart, and we have the rest. Recovered from the archives of the Empire, but we need the last piece. And somehow you convinced the droid to show it to you."

"You, a scavenger."

At these words, Rey held back some tears of fear, but also of anger at the air of supremacy Kylo spoke with. She hated that he was, and knew it as well, in control of everything here.

"You know I can take whatever I want." Kylo spoke darkly, reaching out a hand to Rey's head from the side. In resistance, Rey turned away, but it was useless.

She felt in invasive, cold presence in her mind, as a mind besides her own tore into hers without remorse.

Kylo's voice seemed muffled as she lay there, his words like a distant poison:

"So lonely, so afraid to leave, so afraid to trust others too much."

She struggled slightly, but it was struggling against that which her own mind was telling her. Kylo was merely speaking it aloud for his own gain:

"At night, so desperate to sleep, you imagine an ocean. I see it, I see the island, and Han Solo."

Rey's eyes darted to Kylo's masked visage, as he drawled on at a more brisk tone now, a tone of contempt in his voice now:

"You feel like he's the father you never had, I'm sure he would have disappointed you."

"Get out of my head…!" Rey demanded, but it felt like a herculean task to overcome even some of Kylo's invasive techniques. Coming around to her front, his hand still outreached to her, Kylo's head nodded slightly as he grew impatient, certainty in his voice as if he spoke the truth:

"I know you've seen the map. Its in there, and now you'll give it to me."

Rey felt her head involuntarily leaning forwards from her restraint seat's headrest, as the pressure on her mind continued to grow, her heart pounding as she grit her teeth, a headache matching the mind probe from the masked figure standing before her, his outstretched hand seeming like it was trying to pull her head off along with her memories.

"Don't be afraid, I feel it to."

"I'm not giving you anything.." Rey replied, though this was a hard task in itself, the masked man's seemingly lying reassurance falling on deaf ears. Kylo didn't believe her words for a moment:

"We'll see."

In an instinctive resistance, Rey tried to mentally push back, feeling the invading limb in her mind that came from Kylo's mind. As Kylo strengthened his own mind probe, Rey felt its grip on her mind tighten.

She pushed back, and felt her own strained mind enter another.

Her eyes beheld Kylo Ren shift somewhat, his stance flinching as he seemed overcome by something he wasn't doing. He pushed his own mind probe harder, feeling her own retaliatory probe that she was instinctively doing, a far simpler task to do than opening up a mind probe from nothing.

Back and forth they struggled, until at the moment when Kylo was ready to violently press into her mind, she pushed herself. Invading another's mind left one's own vulnerable, and Rey burst through, the pathway to his mind allowing her to accomplish this with ease. The harder Kylo pushed into her own, the wider the path, and she dove deep into his mind, the masked man not used to another invading his own so unexpectedly.

"You, you're afraid…" Rey calmly replied, her brow covered in sweat as she stared at the unfeeling mask, but sensing the trepidation and fear behind it as she resisted more than any prisoner before.

"That you will never be as strong as Darth Vader!"

In a flourish of anger, Kylo wrenched his hand away from Rey's temple, his lightsaber flying from the pedestal into the same hand out of a flare of anger in him. A deep breathing, his body shaking slightly, but there was no ignition of a red crossguard blade.

Her breathing calming, Rey could do nothing but stare at the masked man as he stared back, before he stormed from the holding cell a few moments later, the doors slamming shut behind him, leaving her in the cell.

* * *

 **Facility Command structure**

 **Communications hall**

In the dark lit hall, the size of a chapel room, as the projection of the throne-sat figure of Supreme Leader Snoke spoke with Kylo, his visage taller than the masked man as he heard what had been done:

" _ **She resisted you!?"**_

"She is strong with the force! Untrained, but stronger than she knows..."

" _ **And the droid!?"**_

"Ren believed it was no longer valuable to us…"

Kylo span in the communications hall, seeing General Hux striding up as the dark room's doors shut further back. Turning back with his head low, Ren let Hux speak to the Supreme Leader uninterrupted, his mask and stance hiding his dislike of the man in wake of the success of the Hosnian Prime success:

"That the girl, was all we needed. As a result the droid has most likely been returned to the hands of the enemy. They may have the map already."

The larger holoform of Snoke shifted on his throne, addressing both of them as he briskly spoke:

" _ **Then the Resistance must be destroyed as soon as possible, even Skywalker's return will be meaningless if they are in ruins. Have any new weapons ready as soon as possible General, I sense that they are seeking retribution for Hosnian Prime. Their movements will reveal their base, then you will receive the order to attack full force. Go."**_

"By your will Supreme Leader." Hux gave a small bow, while he then turned to look at Kylo's masked face with an air of very carefully hidden superiority, as much as he dared around the force wielder.

As Hux walked off, Kylo turned to Snoke with a respectful, almost pleading tone in his metallic voice:

"Supreme Leader I can get the map from the girl, I just need your guidance."

Leaning forwards, the projection of Snoke looked down at Kylo Ren, a cold tone in his voice:

" _ **If what you say about this girl is true, bring her to me."**_

* * *

 **Loneh, main factory complex**

As a few AALs landed, part of the gathering reinforcements for the immediate attacking task force being put in place, Captain Phasma strode off ahead of the others. Her FN troopers followed suit, before they each peeled off to their respective postings. But not before Phasma words beneath her chrome armor followed them each:

"Report to the designated transport the moment the order is called, be it moments or even days from now. Delay will be regarded as highly as incompetence, or treachery."

As she passed by FN-2199, he felt her words directed at him in particular:

"Is that clear?"

"Sir yes Sir!"

"Dismissed."

As they left, FN-2199 marched of with his group, his own contingent with a few other squads headed for a patrol in the volcanic mountain fissure to the north of the main facility.

As he marched, a slightly taller Stormtrooper asked quietly as they approached a First Order landspeeder to embark on patrol in, among the other troopers in their squad:

"Hey, you were 2187's squadmate, right?"

"So what if I was?" FN-2199 asked bitterly, tired of these questions by now.

"Did you know he'd turn traitor?"

"If I did he wouldn't have been alive to do so."

FN-2199 muttered this darkly beneath his helmet, as he and the other Stormtroopers boarded the speeder, its engines powering up to begin speeding across the snowy plains outside the main facility, the large expanse of the landing causeway and plaza giving way to the snow coated valley before them.

* * *

 **Interstellar space**

 **Millennium Falcon**

As Han input the commands, Finn sat behind the man, while Chewbacca made sure the falcon's systems performed as normal in the co-pilot seat. The former Stormtrooper, clad in his black underlayer form his trooper gear and Poe's jacket, nodded as Han typed in the last of the codes:

"Right, that's the codes. Not sure about it both ways however."

"First Order will flag it as an invalid code, but not before we slip into the planet's atmosphere. I'm pretty sure they'll notice its codes tagged with an verification ID of a deserter."

"But this hulk can get down there before that happens right?" Finn asked.

"You don't know much about what I've done with this ship, do you?" Han turned in the pilot's seat, shooting Finn a sceptical look. As Finn shuffled uncomfortably, Chewbacca grumbled in a sort of laugh, while Han then got up from his seat:

"We're still a while out, so may as well sit tight kid."

"Kinda hard to do knowing where we're headed." Finn admitted, as he followed Han into the crew lounge of the Falcon. The smuggler sat on a small seat, as he saw Finn sit on a small round couch nearby, idly shuffling an elbow onto the holo-table nearby.

A small set of holographic creatures suddenly appeared, the Dejarik table flaring to live in a surprise to Finn. Cautiously, Finn deactivated the table, before he saw Han slowly pull out a Lightsaber of all things:

"You're a jedi too?"

Han looked at Finn, arching an eyebrow as he placed the saber on the table before them, remarking offhandedly:

"Do I look like the Jedi type to you? No, that was Luke. Besides, I used that once before to help him. Brings back memories of things I'd rather not see or smell again."

"Uh, okay…"

As things were quiet, Finn admitted: "Is it weird, me being here, an ex Stormtrooper?"

"Kid, I've seen many strange things, to the point where I just add you to the list and move on. An ex Stormtrooper where we're headed is more a help then a problem anyway. If not, Chewie would've had his way with you by now."

Finn nervously glanced towards the cockpit passage, where he saw the Wookie wandering out the check the Falcon's backup nav-readout screens just within sight around the corner.

Finn looked at Han once more, shuffling forwards to ask him:

"What about the girl, the one who was with you?"

"Rey."

Finn nodded, as he remarked: "She'll be in the command centre, away from the main factory. That's where they hold prisoners."

"But the shield generator's in the main factory. We gotta make a choice kid."

"We have to get her, we would've got a call from the Resistance if the Order was heading to where Luke is if she'd already shown the last part of the map you said she has."

With a sigh, Han said simply: "Lets get there first, make our plan from there."

With a pause of thought, Han then moved the Lightsaber forwards on the table towards Finn:

"Here, you should take this for now."

"Me?" Finn asked incredulously.

"You said you were an elite trooper, riot trained? Better than nothing."

Leaning forwards, Han said bluntly: "Besides, whoever gets caught with that on them becomes the bigger target. You might be a good distraction, but try not to lose it."

Looking at the lightsaber, Finn did a double take at Han as he got up to check something in the back quarters of the Falcon, a minor groan escaping him as he looked down at the weapon in his hand.

All the while, the Falcon continued through hyperspace to the planet Loneh, and the mixed sabotage and rescue mission that awaited them.

* * *

 **Explaining the new third act locale, an icy world with volcanic activity in small emergent pockets. If it were to be based upon a terrain on Earth, it would be Iceland's mixed snow plains and volcanic mountains.**

 **Geothermal energy feeds the plant, as well as molten metal resources. But Kyber crystals are the real treasure there, as will be shown later in the chapters with some of the prototypes the infiltrators see as they go about the mission.**

* * *

 **Kylo Ren keeps his helmet on.**

* * *

 **Also, having a lightsaber on one's self around the First Order is equivalent to painting a bullseye on your chest, and it would seem like Han to pawn it off on a partner if it meant an easier time for him and Chewie, seeing as he and Finn aren't fully 'friends' at this point.**

* * *

 **Please review/critique, though this chapter took longer due to plotting it out, and University work.**


	12. Traitors and Escapes

**Loneh, Planet orbit**

 **Millenium Falcon**

The Millenium Falcon dropped out of hyperspace, the white and grey planet ahead of them, foreboding and as cold as much of its climate, from the barely oceanic equator to the lifeless frozen poles.

Inside the cockpit, Han sent off the coded message, gunning the engines as Chewbacca gave a grumble over some readouts, pointing to a distant speck further around the planet. Seeing it, Finn spoke as Han kept his eyes fixed on the planet ahead, heading down fast.

"Always at least one destroyer parked in orbit…"

"Yeah well its far off, might get bumpy, we're going in fast."

Nodding nervously, Finn backed up to a 3rd seat in the cockpit, strapping himself in as the planet came closer all the time.

* * *

 **Orbiting First Order Resurgence class star destroyer**

On the bridge, the tech officers examined the readouts, one officer noticing the oddity as he walked by.

"What is it?"

The techie gave a quick salute as she turned, but gestured to the readouts on the screen:

"Sir, freighter arrived for unplanned repairs, but the clearance codes don't check out, and a lot of junk coding came with them."

On the screen, the bulky freighter, a First Order transport loaded with containers, was displayed as the model of ship descending into Loneh, rather fast for its class. But the screens were fuzzy, as the Officer noticed this, leaning forwards and speaking into a microphone:

"Scan it again, get that junk code cleared."

As the techie replied, the Officer waited patiently, but it was on some scanners that he noticed something off yet again.

"Rather fast for a freighter in friendly territory…"

"Sir, the ship's not one of ours! The signal was masking it, the codes were decommissioned ones!"

On the screens, the First Order freighter's outline lay there to be seen, surrounded in warning signs printed in Aurebesh. The Officer turned to see the signal vanish into Loneh's atmosphere, clearly equipped to avoid detection.

"Find that ship, send word to the surface to search the planet surface for the freighter, clearly stolen for an infiltration."

* * *

 **Loneh**

 **Millenium Falcon**

The fuselage rocked as the small trails of plasma from the Falcon's fast entry dissipated, Finn's knuckles pale as he clenched the seat. Han slackened in the pilot's seat with the success, as Chewbacca laughed slightly at the feat as well. With a sigh, Han turned his head slightly to thank Finn.

"Having a traitor and his old clearance ID works wonders."  
"Uh, thanks…"

"Though if Chewie hadn't filled your codes with lots of junk we may not have been as lucky."

"Yeah well they'll be looking for the ship you made this one look like on scanners. But we're clear right?"

"The Falcon's got jammers, don't work as well in space but they work well enough in a planet's atmosphere to keep us hidden from their scans."

As the Falcon dipped low, snow-capped treelines atop mountain ridges came into view through the cockpit. As some low clouds blew away, the distant, smoking ridges that was a volcanic region came into view, along with the first signs of the First Order's structures.

Looking out, Finn saw the small communications array on the ground, as power relays fed it from a distant facility. Pointing out through the window, he didn't need to say anything before Han and Chewbacca noticed it too.

Turning the Falcon in the air, snow rustling from the trees, they set the ship down in a clearing, making sure the jammers kept their ship hidden from any detection while they were here.

* * *

 **Loneh, outskirts comms array**

Having hacked into the array, making sure any security sensors were knocked out for now, they hacked into the feeds.

Nodding, Finn pointed out on the holo feed before them:

"There, uh, Rey, right. Like I thought, command centre."

Cocking his head, Han looked at Finn, remarking: "Main reactor's pretty far from it. Not sure we can get both without getting caught."

Finn looked at Han, shaking his head as he replied sternly: "We're getting Rey, then the reactor."

"Finn, this is bigger than some girl you hardly even know. People are counting on us, the Galaxy is counting on us!"

"No, but I know she didn't choose to be involved in this mess. The Order, they do this to too many people, and I can't stand by as it happens to another if I can do something about it."

"And what exactly do you intend to do about it, you're not exactly able to wander up into the First Order base like you own the place!"

Finn hesitated, as he wracked his mind in thought, while Chewbacca shut off the holofeed for the moment as he rubbed his hairy arms.

"We'll figure it out… Maybe, we'll use the force?"

Han stared dumbfounded at this ex-Stormtrooper, before he harshly whispered to Finn's face:

"That's not how the force works!"

Chewbacca grumbled, his own concerns irking Han at that moment, having to deal with two annoyances at once:

"Oh really, you're cold?"

Looking out to the distant facility, Finn then had an idea. Turning to Han, he said briskly:

"Come on, I have an idea. First Order will rally to wherever we hit, so we keep moving once we hit."

"Hit where?" Han asked, as Finn led them back to the Falcon.

"One of the mines, get them running there while we head to the main facility and Rey on the magtrams!"

Cocking his head as they ran, Han and Chewbacca followed Finn into the treeline, towards the parked falcon.

Shortly after coming aboard, Han turned to Chewbacca right as the boarding ramp was shit, ordering the Wookie:

"Best prep the Falcon for some autopilot time, in case the plan fails."

Grumbling, Chewbacca pushed past Finn, who shrugged irritatedly at the man's continued doubts of him:

"Mr. Solo, I know you-."

Turning mid stride, Han looked at Finn in a perplexed manner, asking bluntly:

"Did you just call me mister?"

Nervous now, Finn continued: "Uh, Solo, I know you may still doubt me because of me being-."

"Again, I don't give a damn that you're an ex-Stormtrooper. I just know to make backups when a far-fetched plan is our course of action. I've done enough of those myself."

Outside, the Falcon took flight, this time heading for a mountain ridge, the jammers keeping it hidden from all but visual sensors.

* * *

 **Loneh, command facility**

 **Detention cells**

As the 2 troopers entered her cell, Rey blearily looked up as her restraints were undone, the 2 troopers roughly seizing her arms and putting her hands in restraints in front of her waist.

"And where are you taking me now?" Rey asked, half afraid and half angry at being hauled around outside her will by these seemingly soulless troopers.

"Ren wants you loaded on his ship, now move it!"

As the blaster rifle was shoved into her back, Rey's face flushed with anger, before she marched out her cell, still covered in some sweat and tired from her joints being strained in that accursed restraining chair for what seemed like an age.

One trooper walked ahead of her, the other behind, blaster pressed into her back the whole time. As she walked, a nagging feeling in her head came, as if she could sense their minds around hers. Obedient, focused solely, but not as clear as Kylo's was to her.

Walking down a hallway, she saw a number of ventilation ducts lining the lower walls. Then, she decided to try something she hoped to any deity would work. Calming her mind as she walked, she reached out to the mind of the Stormtrooper behind her, and attempted it:

"You will undo my restraints…"

She heard the trooper cock his helmeted head, almost as if he were perplexed, before she felt the barrel roughly shove into her back:

"As if I were to do that, now move!"

Blinking a few times, she tried again as they walked, her eyes darting to the vents nearby all the time.

"You will undo my restraints…"

"I'll add more restraints, on your mouth."

"What is she doing?" The trooper ahead asked, to which the one behind her remarked:

"Don't know, deluded prisoners never speak sense."

As she saw the vents on the side beginning to decrease in number of shafts, she tried once more, the force in her voice harder now:

"You will undo, my restraints…"

She heard the trooper slow behind her, as she did too, while sure enough the trooper ahead continued on for a moment, before he too stopped.

"I will undo, your res… no!"

As if he had been in a daze himself, the rear trooper shook his head, roughly seizing Rey in his hand and putting his face right in hers:

"What do you think you're trying to do!?"

"Hey! Ren wants her unharmed!" The other trooper rushed forwards, whilst Rey struggled in the trooper's grip, her restrained hands reached for the trooper's blaster subtly as the other trooper rushed forwards to pull his enraged partner off.

"What has gotten into you!?" As the other trooper pulled the first off Rey, the troopers noticed that Rey had seized the rifle, a strong kick sending the trooper back with his blaster in her hands.

Spinning the rifle around, Rey quickly fired a shot into the still armed Stormtrooper's ankle, flooring him as she then shot the nearest ventilation shaft with the same blaster.

As his partner reeled in pain on the floor, the trooper Rey's mind trick had not been fully successful on scrambled towards the ventilation duct as she all but dove inside feet first.

"Prisoner escaped, all crews on alert!"

* * *

Sliding through the vents, Rey crashed into the walls of the enclosed main vent system with a resounding clang, gasping from the impact. Seeing her hands still in the clamps, she muttered angrily to herself:

"I should have grabbed the keys while I was there…"

Inside the enclosed space, as she shuffled sideways out of view from the shaft she'd slid down, she maneuvered the rifle into place, a very awkward position, placing the restraint centre right on the blaster rifle's muzzle. With a pull of the trigger, her wrists were freed from each other, though still bound by the restraints.

Shuffling through the shaft, Rey began to make her way through, knowing she had to get out of here fast while they still thought she was in the vents.

Years of crawling through ducts in the wrecks of ships on Jakku were proving useful here.

Yet as she crawled through the vents, stolen rifle still in hand, Rey couldn't help but wonder why she'd felt the minds of those Stormtroopers, or where the desire and impetus to try and order one to free her came from.

"Whatever that was… Nearly had it…"

* * *

 **Loneh, outskirts mining facility**

The Falcon had flown by, as Han and Chewbacca readied weapons while they set down the ship:

"Jammer's running, time to get in while they're trying to get comms back up."

As the Wookie grumbled, Han turned to Finn:

"You handle the stormtroopers, me and Chewie got the charge. One will do."

"Wait, alone?"

"Yeah, you said you were one of their better troopers. Shouldn't be a problem for a big shot like you." Han spoke, clapping Finn on the shoulder with a slight smug expression on his face.

Following Han out, Finn grumbled to himself: "My luck…"

* * *

As Chewbacca snuck around the back, holding the charge in hand, Han saw a line of First Order snowspeeders that made a perfect target, pointing with his blaster to them for the Wookie to see.

* * *

Sneaking up, Finn saw a pair of troopers near him, as he hid behind some crates with his blaster ready. Hearing their remarks about something jamming their comms, he took the initiative.

Leaping out, Finn shot one of the troopers in the torso flooring him instantly as he then charged the other, firing his rifle into the trooper's helmet as he dashed to another pile of supply crates in the loading bay. Firing his rifle at a pair of troopers that spotted him, Finn yelled aloud as a shot hit his rifle, rendering it unusable and nearly scorching his hand.

Casting aside the weapon, Finn instinctively tried to reach for a fallen rifle nearby, but retracted his hand from his hiding spot as he nearly had it shot off by the advancing two troopers.

Gasping, near hyperventilating, Finn fumbled on his person in hopeless despair for a weapon. As he heard and glimpsed the troopers slowly advancing on his position, he felt the lightsaber still clasped to his belt.

Han had said it would make him the centre of attention, and seeing as he already was.

Sticking the muzzle away from him, Finn pressed the button, the blue blade springing to life with an ignition of the plasma energy inside it, humming as it sat in the air.

A rifle readying from behind the crate made Finn spring upwards, lightsaber swinging out.

The blue blade sliced through the rifle barrel about to be trained on him from over the crate, the Stormtrooper backstepping in a panic as Finn surged forwards, impaling the trooper on the blade and using him as a shield against the other as he tried to get a clear shot at him.

Pushing forwards, Finn pulled the blade out and cast the first trooper aside right before he lunged out, the blue blade swinging down like a hammer to carve down into the stormtrooper's shoulder and torso, flooring him as Finn pulled the blade out.

"TRAITOR!"

A familiar voice called out from the stairwell, as Finn saw FN-2199, Nines, standing there, rifle ready. Throwing himself sideways, Finn ducked around a corner as he tried to call out:

"Nines! I had to! It was-."

"SAVE IT!"

Blaster fire ripped apart the wall corner he took shelter behind, as Finn felt a few chips of metal fly near his head from his friend who had him pinned down.

Further away however, an explosion tore apart snowspeeders sat parked, as Finn glimpsed a Wookie and human smuggler taking off from the explosions and firing at the few Stormtroopers standing by these backup modes of transport.

Glancing around, Finn saw Nines thrown off by the blast, and he used that to his advantage.

Lunging out, lightsaber swinging, Finn sliced the gun barrel end off from Nines' rifle, sparing a stern look through his hard breathing at the helmeted former friend.

But a boot swung out and kicked Finn in the shin, stumbling him back in pain as Nines leapt backwards a few feet, unfurling a Z-6 riot control baton, an electrofield weapon. Spinning it to arm its full length, Nines took a ready stance, while Finn raised his lightsaber in response.

Surging forwards, Nines flailed the baton at any opening, Finn swinging to block the baton, the unfamiliar sword style weapon not the same as the riot control baton he was trained in with Nines and others in his squad.

Swinging low, Finn winced as Nines had backstepped and landed a harsh blow on his shoulder, before side stepping a wild overhead cut from Finn by the lightsaber. Reposing, Finn went on the attack, wild swings back and forth as he used the lightsaber more like a large axe if anything else.

Nines deflected the blows and always quickly replied with spins to hit back, two more blows landing on Finn and forcing him to stagger backwards, tripping over a fallen cargo pail to land painfully on his back on the loading bay's floor, lightsaber deactivating as Finn lay there in writhing pain from the fall and electro stun energy coursing through him.

Surging forwards, Nines raised the weapon over his head, forcing Finn to block with his arms helplessly. But a bolt of blaster energy ripped through the air, blasting Nines off his feet and onto the floor ahead of Finn, a scorch mark on his armor but merely knocking out Nines from the sheer concussive blast.

Glancing backwards, Finn saw Chewbacca rushing over, as Han kept his blaster handy, commenting as Chewbacca wandered over to Nines to claim what ID tags they needed:

"Well, you kept them busy."

Wincing as he stood up, Finn glanced over to see Chewbacca pull off Nine's helmet, the red haired human man he once had as a squadmate lying there unconscious as Chewbacca took a scanner to copy his codes for their use.

Han clapped Finn on the shoulder, remarking:

"Come on, Falcon will go somewhere on auto to hide, we gotta get to the facility before more show up."

"Yeah, more old friends…" Finn remarked, whether it was coldness or sadness in his voice he didn't know.

Following Han and Chewbacca up the stairs, as the Falcon took off by itself from the treelines they'd hidden it in for this outpost's loading bay assault, they came to the magtrain loading station.

Soon, the pod train was on route, the enclosed tube train heading to the main facility through the raised, transparent tunnels. Ahead, another pod train passed on the parallel track, the reinforcements missing them passing right by them unseen on another train.

The command facility was the first stop, regardless of their priorities.

* * *

 **Loneh, command facility**

 **Hanger bay level**

As Kylo strode down the hallway, he heard the announcement that the prisoner had escaped over the intercoms, as his steps slowly came to a stop.

" _ **Facility lockdown, prisoner has escaped through the ventilation systems, full alert!"**_

Mid pause, Kylo slowly turned to small room off the main hallway, entering it to stride right over to the computer console, hands flying as he requested input into the details.

The image of the girl somehow tricking one trooper, stealing a blaster to wound the other and fire out an escape through the shafts, filled Ren's vision. Behind the helmet, his eyes bulged, and his mind turned red.

Slowly, Ren stepped backwards, shaking his head slightly while his fists clenched repeatedly, his frame nearly shaking as he began to lose control.

"No, no, no…. NOOO!"

Lightsaber springing to life, Kylo swung it erratically, rage filled bellows from his masked visage filling the sensor array outlet room he was in.

Outside the doorway, the two troopers on patrol saw the sparks flying from the comms array room, hearing the rage cries of a certain Knight of Ren. Without a word, they turned to patrol in the other direction, knowing better to cross an enraged Knight of Ren in any way by reputation alone.

* * *

 **The sneaking onto the 'third act planet' is accomplished with an old trick they used in Return of the Jedi, though this time it isn't perfect, but works long enough to get them down.**

 **The Millenium Falcon has an autopilot, or it would most likely. I'd question any starship that didn't, especially a smuggling ship.**

 **Finn feels indebted to rescuing Rey because he knows what may well become of her or worse, and that she's still a stranger to him shows how far he'd willing to go to renounce his old path.**

 **Rey's force abilities are there, but they are 'rusty' to say the least. I keep her way of truly getting out of things within the skillset she already has.**

 **Ren's abuse of equipment is done to a security feed showing Rey's escape. Different means and somewhat similar cause, utterly same result.**

 **Forgive the delays, but exams and such cause these things. As usual, reviews are welcomed.**


	13. Phasma's Bout

**Loneh, command facility**

 **Magtube line station, exterior superstructure**

The Stormtroopers marched towards the magtube train line, a few troopers looking at the train that had stopped before the main facility's entry wall.

The emergency brake had been pulled, and the exit doorway opened to allow whomever was inside to escape. With no snow on this ground however, there were no footprints to follow.

"Sir, security feeds were cut on the train, no visual on their identities."

As the Stormtrooper was bent under the control panel inside the train car, the platoon commander signalled with his hands:

"Spread out, I want those infiltrators found!"

Troopers rallied and marched in all directions from beneath the magtube line's support pylon, a repulsorlift ground vehicle, the First Order's modified snowspeeder vehicles, taking off towards the southern perimeter lines of the Command Facility's outer walls.

But as the troopers rallied, they failed to spot the emergency escape tunnel that had been used for an entry instead.

* * *

 **Command facility maintenance levels**

The maintenance levels, where the support infrastructure ran underneath the command facility's superstructure, was a labyrinth of pipes, generator systems and power conduits that hummed constantly in the background.

Sneaking around the corner of the nearby power cell bank, Finn peered around as Han and Chewbacca waited behind him. As a repair droid wheeled around the corner, its thick legs and stumpy walking slowly taking it around to the next relay inspection on its agenda, the ex-stormtrooper looked down the hall further, before he gestured for the Smuggler and Wookie to follow him.

A network terminal lay unaccompanied inside a small alcove, as Finn let Chewbacca pass by to plug the hacking module into an input slot, the module's connection able to shift to fit the drive type.

Shifting past Finn, Han worked with the module's screen, scowling as its faint beeps and readouts showed its progress.

"We can't be here long, sensor sweep's coming soon if their schedule hasn't changed since I was last here."

"I know, but this scrap's doing the best it can… At least the power relays cause too much static for sensors to work fully. What I'd give for an astro-droid with us right now…"

Chewbacca growled lowly beside him as the hacking module worked away, while Finn ducked around as he saw a technician walk down the halls, nearly spotting him.

Finn couldn't help but suppress a snort as he saw the Wookie's fur was slightly standing on end from all the static in these lower areas, a product of the power relays in this level, as was Han's own grey hair to a lesser extent. But Finn's smile left as the Wookie casually began to point his bowcaster at Finn, the ex-Stormtrooper quickly letting the Wookie be free of Finn's amusement at his expense.

Finally, the module beeped, as a blue holomap of the command facility showed up before them, small but detailed.

"Okay, detention level's here."

"Yeah, what about the shields, the factory, can you get a map of that?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, hold on."

Fiddling with the map, Finn and Han focused as Chewbacca shuffled around them, peering around the corners of their alcove within the power bank walls to see if anyone was coming.

As the map scrolled, it revealed the much larger factory facility.

"Shields, shields, where's the-oh, no no no…."

As he looked at the readout map, Finn saw the facility's lower levels, a large open section within the factory facility. But the problem was with the red highlights around it, the entire area, along with other key areas across the factory, highlighted in a slight red hue compared to the other blue holomap areas.

"This better not be too bad kid…" Han warned, to which Finn shook his head before saying quickly:

"High security areas, no way in or out without tag codes. No slipping through before they notice my codes are expired…"

"Is there any way in there?"

"Not without valid codes, and they make sure they know which ones are valid with these places. High priority."

"Yeah, in case someone wants to sabotage them."

"We can still get Rey, she's here, I know this place like the back of my hand, we can get her out."

As Han snorted at this, Chewbacca quickly veered his head from peering around the alcove, his bowcaster charging suddenly, before he tapped Han on the shoulder roughly, cutting the smuggler off mid-sentence before growling the warning.

"We're not leaving until that factory is in ruins, we-what is it Chewie?"

Hearing the Wookie's growls, Han's face turned serious, as did Finn's when he heard the sound of boots on the grating floor coming towards their hiding spot by the hacked terminal.

Ripping the module from the socket, the Smuggler quickly took something out his pocket, handing it to Finn before he quietly gestured for Finn to throw it down the hallway.

Looking down at the item, as Chewbacca smiled in anticipation, Finn saw it was some sort of fist sized grenade, but not one he'd seen before.

Turning the cap, Finn saw a blue light come up, as a series of blue dotted lights began to count down. With one hand, as he heard the patrolling Stormtroopers coming closer, Finn chucked the grenade down the hallway, around the corner, and flung himself around to cover.

* * *

The pair of Stormtroopers walked on their usual patrol marches, as one muttered to the other:

"Unusual access signal came from here."

At that moment, some movement caught their eye, before a small ball was tossed their way.

Reacting quickly, the Stormtroopers shot at it, the 3 shots they got off missing the small ball as it came to their feet, and a large discharge of electric energy came from the shock grenade.

Bodies shaking, their yells silenced as the electricity shorted out their helmet speakers and comms, the two Stormtroopers fell to the ground, twitching as the last of the electric arc caused smoke simmered from their limp forms.

Peering out from the corner, Finn quickly glanced at Han as he wandered out, getting the small ball for himself as he pocketed the now empty Shock grenade. Chewbacca then gestured at them with his bowcaster, to which Han nodded slightly, turning to Finn:

"Could we use their codes? They haven't turned rogue."

Finn blinked for a few moments, as he looked at their unconscious forms, before he remarked:

"Not with their helmets fried, no linkup."

He then had a slight smile as he then replied:

"But I know someone better we can use."

Han gave Finn a sceptical look, while Chewbacca simply turned to gaze for any more incoming patrols. They had the safe knowledge that Finn knew the command facility well, though that advantage wouldn't last when they got to the factory and shields as well.

But any advantage was worth exploiting.

* * *

 **Command base, mid-level ventilation shafts**

 **Communications databank levels**

Gently shuffling her way down the now vertical shaft, Rey clung onto each crevice she could find, the rifle slung on her belt as her only tool in here.

Lightly setting herself down, she saw that the vents turned in 4 different directions from the flat. Seeing her paths before her, she began to think, speaking aloud:

"Hangers…which…"

As she tried to think, she looked around, all 4 of them appearing identical. But as she thought, she felt it again.

Almost like a whistling wind in the back of her mind, it was stronger when she looked at one of the vents, as if it beckoned her to go that way.

Knowing that strange things had happened when she trusted these odd feelings in recent days, she was wary. But they hadn't led her into harm necessarily, and she had nothing better to go on.

For all she knew it may actually be the wind escaping from an opening,

Slowly shuffling, as she crept through the vents, Rey was painfully aware of the slight noises that escaped the vent while she moved.

As some light filled the vents, she became aware of a hallway beneath her, black polished floor and a few Stormtroopers passing beneath her as she shuffled through the vent.

"Sir, no sign of the girl on the lower levels, vents included."

"So she is still here then. Keep on alert, security technicians have already programmed the maintenance droids to alert for the prisoner if sighted. Return to your patrols, she cannot stay hidden forever."

Beneath her, Rey heard a female Stormtrooper commander, whom she saw clad in chrome grey armour and a blood red cloak over her impressive stature. The other Stormtroopers quickly saluted her before leaving to a nearby hallway, likely leading to the lower levels.

As Phasma strode off, Rey heard a noise behind her, as a sound of droid chirping echoed down the vents. Not wanting to be found, Rey found she had no choice but to crawl through the vents, behind and following the hallway through which Captain Phasma now patrolled per usual.

Shuffling, her heart rate picking up as her stolen rifle's barrel noisily scraped the vents one time, she followed the vent, and saw to her relief that Phasma's pace was taking her further away as the corridor, and the vent, began to curve around.

But at a hallway turn, Phasma suddenly stopped, which Rey glimpsed through the ventilation grating. The Stormtrooper commander stared at an open doorway suspiciously, slowly walking in while activating the large rifle she held.

Behind her, the beeping of a maintenance droid, which she glanced back to see far down the vent she'd crawled as an offshoot of a mouse droid, equipped with cleaning equipment from its top.

Unwillingly, she shuffled on, as she saw the vent had a T-junction where it went into the room's ceiling where Phasma now was.

But as the door suddenly shut outside, and commotion erupted in the room, Rey felt a tug in her mind towards where Phasma went, a turn left.

But it was a Wookie's roar that cemented her turn and scramble through the vents, the cleaning mouse droid further up the vent catching none of this in its limited sensors.

* * *

 **Loneh, Command facility, communications databank level**

Phasma saw the opened door, and the lights inside all dimmed, and her unseen gaze beneath her helmet darkened just as much.

Charging her rifle, the tall Stormtrooper commander ventured inside, the large room itself a storage room for spare equipment, large crates of unused databank materials and maitanance tools and parts turning the room into a cluster of obstacles.

Slowly stomping inside, she glanced around, but her gaze came to an access hatch in a distant corner of the room, her large rifle's light shining on it, the ladder exposed as the hatch was open.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut, and she was grabbed from behind by something big.

Hairy arms wrapped around her in a deathgrip, while she felt her rifle being wrestled with by another being. A third came rushing from the door, having hidden nearby its access panel in the dark.

Training kicking in, she reverse-headbutted her crushing hold enemy with her helmeted head, knowing the bigger enemy was priority.

A loud growl escaped the Wookie as she wrenched her rifle to all but throw the one holding on to it around to slam back first into a crate of spare databank parts.

* * *

Finn gasped as he slammed into the crate, while in the darkened room Captain Phasma whirled to fire her rifle at Chewbacca's head.

But a click sounded, as Phasma quickly jerked her head at the noise, before Chewbacca came at her, bowcaster in hand.

Finn stood up, her rifle's power cell in his hand, which he'd popped out right before she hurled him off during the initial struggle.

"FN-2187…" Phasma drawled, as Chewbacca backed her up slowly, Han bringing up the rear as he had his own blaster out.

"It's Finn now Phasma, and I'm in charge now. You hear me? I'm in charge…"

"She heard ya kid…" Han mumbled, as he aimed his rifle at Phasma's head.

As she slowly backed up, her useless rifle lowered now, she spoke while staring at Chewbacca the whole time:

"Clearly the potential I saw in you as a trooper is gone. You waste your talents and betray your fellow troopers to serve a collection of anarchists in a galaxy that needs order."

"Save it Phasma. I'm helping, not serving. The Resistance works together; they don't serve blindly."

"They blindly fight while ignorant of a galaxy begging for stability lost since the Empire's fall. But I know you are not ignorant FN-2187, you are smarter than they are."

"Shut it Phasma, you're our prisoner now, deal with it?"

"And yet you are so worried about being caught if you fire even one shot…"

At this dark remark, Phasma sprung forwards, ducking around as Chewbacca swung his bowcaster, before she swung out her arm to knock the Wookie's bowcaster upwards and away from her head, her other hand shooting out to smash into Chewbacca's neck from the side.

The Wookie growled in pain as he staggered away, bowcaster dropping as Phasma was pounced on by Finn. Han darted around the crates, rushing over to help Chewbacca as the Wookie groaned on the floor.

As Finn fought Phasma, the hand to hand fight turned vicious. Her armour made her already good skill into devastating blows. One elbow to Finn's side, followed by a swipe from her hand, knocked the rifle from his hands.

Ducking backwards as another arm strike missed his head, Finn grabbed an electro wrench, swinging it around like a club as Phasma's next attack came.

The wrench swing missed Phasma as she ducked, but as Finn swung around again, the wrench clanged as it scraped her helmet. But the chromium coated armour deflected the blow with a few sparks, which Phasma followed by driving her elbow towards Finn's shoulder.

The blow sent Finn reeling, as he then felt himself hoisted up by the neck, choking as Phasma's grip tightened.

"You knew the consequences…"

A ventilation grate suddenly fell to the floor from above, in a corner of the dimly lit equipment room, turning Phasma's gaze there in that instant, her attention drawn away as Finn struggled in her strangle hold, forced against the wall as his windpipe was constricted.

A loud bellow from behind came however, as Finn began to cough when his windpipe was released and he dropped to the floor. Chewbacca had all but flown across the room, grabbing Phasma by the long flowing red cape and slamming her to the floor. Stomping over, the Wookie raised his foot, forcing Phasma to roll away as the Wookie's stomps missed her head, though his hold on her cloak remained.

"Hold her Chewie!"

Han scrambled over as the Wookie managed to get Phasma in place, his stomp catching her shoulder long enough for the Smuggler to come by and throw himself down, hands wrestling at Phasma's helmet.

His hands fiddling, he quickly found the system chip on the outside of the helmet, but Phasma strained as Han began to pull it out, her struggling culminating with a few hard kicks into Chewbacca's pelvis, until finally the Wookie, relented.

Her leg thrust out, slamming Chewbacca into a toolbox rather loudly, while she violently headbutted Han hard enough to send him reeling back, the chip from her helmet in hand.

Her mask was muted, and her comms out, but she would be damned if she was going to let them get away with this.

Lunging at Han, she suddenly felt a hairy set of arms grab her right arm, and she nearly gasped as she felt the Wookie begin to pull very hard.

Spinning into the pull, Phasma's metal tipped fist landed square in the Wookie's grip, but she swiftly headbutted him hard enough to free one hand, and with a flick of her thumb, spiked protruded from the knuckles of her armour.

Punching forwards, Phasma's spikes left visible holes in the metallic walls where they landed, as the Wookie quickly backtracked.

Seeing the Wookie's bowcaster lying on the floor abandoned however, Phasma leapt down, springing up in a flash as she readied to fire the larger weapon at the Smuggler she turned to see staring at the opened vent's corner.

All of a sudden, a blue stun blast engulfed her in a blue circular blast, staggering Phasma. A girl, the escaped prisoner, had shot her with a stolen rifle's stun setting.

Straining, Phasma then felt Chewbacca grab her helmeted head and shove it towards the ground, the Wookie getting behind the only half unconscious commander to put her in a chokehold, one she couldn't escape in her weakened state.

Dragging Phasma over to a corner, as the Wookie set about forcing Phasma to sit slumped against a wall, his crossbow pummelling her once to reinforce that more harm would come to her if she moved.

As Rey reappeared however, she saw Han come over, fatigued from the slight fight, the chip from Phasma's helmet in hand.

"Nice work escaping… How'd you find us though?"

"I'm not sure exactly…"

As she remarked this, she noticed Finn slowly moving towards them, nursing his throat while he recovered his blaster slowly.

"Who's this?"

"This is Finn, he helped us get in here."

"You came all the way here to get me?"

"Wasted effort if that was the case. But we're here for the base itself before we go."

"How did you get in here anyway?"

Rey's question to Han sparked a look of unease from Finn, as he admitted:

"I used to work here, patrols, until recently. Now I'm just a traitor to them."

"You're a Stormtrooper?" Rey asked, her tone hardening slightly in wake of her treatment at the hands of the First Order.

Han glanced at this uneasy tone between the two, before he heard Chewbacca growl slightly, prompting him to ask Finn while Chewbacca gave Phama's helmet a good punch, stopping her small movements that the Wookie was suspicious of against the wall.

"Hey, this chip all we need from her?"

"Yeah. We can leave her here."

"She might sound the alarms." Rey warned, to which Han nodded in agreement, asking Finn coyly:

"So we put her somewhere. Is there a garbage chute somewhere? Trash compacter?"

Phasma's helmeted gaze jerked slightly towards Finn in anger, her internal comms preventing anything she might say to him making it out of her helmet.

"Yeah, there is." Finn's remark was cold and marked with a smile, as he had about as much respect for Phasma now, as Rey seemed suspicious of him.

* * *

It wasn't long before they were making their way back through the passage they'd snuck through, knowing they had Rey and what they needed.

But the main factory still lay undisturbed, as elsewhere the forces needed to tackle it gathered.

* * *

 **D'qar, Resistance base**

The T-70 X-wings all took off from the base, their sublight drives glowing as they tore towards the D'qar skies. Ahead of them, a small squadron of A-wings, mothballed from the Imperial conflict era for use as nimbler fighters for surprise attacks, flew on ahead.

Inside his Black Painted T-70 W-wing, his call sign Black Leader, Poe comm'd the A-wing flight visible through his viewport and scanners.

"Green leader, prepare to jump, we'll need your hit and runs to confuse them for a clear window through their blockade's weapons range."

" _ **Copy Black Leader, we'll have your door to their little factory ready when you get there."**_

Cracking a smile, Poe replied a wish of luck, as the A-wing flight began to jump to hyperspace ahead of them.

"Black squadron, Blue squadron, hold until the word comes. Preserve your concussion warheads when we head in, we'll need them to set off the eruption once the ground sabotage is done."

As acknowledgements of the command came, while Poe sat back in his cockpit to await the confirmation from the ground himself, BB-8 whistled through the comms, the little droid perched in the droid socket behind the cockpit. Agreeing with the droid, Poe remarked:

"Yeah B, I hope they're fine too."

* * *

 **I hate writer's block…**

 **Even so, I have a very clear idea of the story from here. So expect chapters to be less than two weeks apart, this was a one off I promise.**

* * *

 **I gave Phasma a proper send off, even though she'll be back in VIII. But losing a fight to a bunch of rogues, an escaped prisoner and a traitor would be more humiliating than simply being forced at gunpoint to lower the shields.**

 **Plus with her armour and devotion, gunpoint would be useless, and it would give away their position on a heavily guarded base, AS IT SHOULD BE.**

* * *

 **As for the Resistance, to address a pet peeve of mine about VII, they use more than just one type of fighter, as in canon the Resistance uses other craft, many mothballed. And the A-wing is nearly as old, and suitable for a fast hit and run craft to punch a hole in the blockade around Loneh for the heavier, concussive warhead armed T-70 X-wings.**

 **And a similar expansion of vehicles featured will arise for the Order when they get to the factory.**

* * *

 **But most importantly, I am bringing Finn and Rey's arcs to heads here. She must come completely around to being willing to trust others by way of trusting an ex-stormtrooper, shortly after her 'stay' here at their hands. And Finn must prove to her, and to himself through her, that he's on the right path. But more on their interaction next chapter.**


	14. Attack on Loneh Base

**Loneh, planet surface**

 **Main factory facility, launch area**

* * *

" _ **Intercept squadrons scramble, Resistance fighters in orbit targeting the defence network. Launch and destroy."**_

Across the main assembly area, docked transport crews watched as TIE fighters screamed into space from their hanger bays. Stormtroopers assembled across the landing area couldn't help but give a few sideways glances at the sudden alertness of the base's facility.

* * *

Up in the main command tower, officers scrambled across their workstations to coordinate with the ships in orbit.

General Hux strode onto the command deck, issuing orders to the launch coordinators as he passed by towards the main viewport, expression sharp as he ordered to them:

"Launch the Defender squadrons, where there's a handful attacking there may be more waiting to aide them. I want no shortfalls in this interception."

As the First Order officer rushed to the nearest station to begin issuing the launch orders, General Hux glanced out as the hanger doors a way's away, across towards the actual assembly plant, began to open.

* * *

Within the assembly plant's deployment hangers, moving forwards on their launch rails, the pilots in these tri-winged fighters activated their drives. Before the fuel and power lines were detached, the black and silver painted wings glistening under Loneh's sun and snow reflected light, before they screamed skywards in a plume of displaced air from the facility, engines screaming their usual wail as they pierced the low cloud banks.

A hangover from the Imperial era, a design made more efficient and improved from its original version, it was the long ranged and high speed assault fighter of the First Order, the TIE/FO Defender. Shields and a hyperdrive made it equivalent, if not slightly more powerful, than any Starfighter the resistance or Republic could muster, and the added capability of warhead launchers made it a useful attack craft.

* * *

 **Loneh, orbital space**

The orbiting defence satellite realigned its missile launchers, the sensor lights flickering and sending unseen signals to its other networked defence satellites and any First order ships in orbit.

Training its laser turrets to the incoming signals as the last one dropped from hyperspace, the green beams fired up, sweeping the space before it as the gnat like fighters closed in fast.

A barrage of laser fire was hurled back in its direction, and seconds later the satellite was ripped to pieces as it fired off the first missile, the projectile screaming forwards and missing the A-wing flight as it screamed past the debris cloud left by the destroyed satellite.

" **Another one gone! Get that missile off lock before it gives us too much trouble!"**

" **Copy, jamming its sensors."**

The flight of a dozen A-wings further accelerated across the planet's orbit, the single missile trailing the flight from the debris cloud flickering its sensor lights for a few moments before stoppings its manoeuvres, shooting off in a straight line and away from the fighters, rendered useless as a weapon.

" **Watch it, TIEs inbound. Looks like we've got their attention!"**

As the leader of Green Wing peered out of her cockpit, she glimpsed the distant daggerlike silhouette of a Resurgence class Star Destroyer far ahead, and tiny specks that she knew were incoming TIE fighters screaming towards them in the usual numerical advantage they enjoyed, another trait borrowed from the Imperial days.

"Keep tight, don't let them catch us, just a few more of their satellites and we'll give a hole for the others to-."

" **More marks inbound from the planet surface, can't ID them though!"**

Using her scanners, and later looking out of her cockpit, Green Leader's eyes widened as she saw the first of these new fighters screaming towards them, the tri-winged design with outward facing folded array wings unlike the usual First Order craft she'd encountered.

"Full power to engines, these ones are as fast as us! Make a head on run, right through them, head for the planet!"

Breaking to loop around, screaming towards the incoming TIE Defenders, the A-wings grouped close, as Green Leader comm'd in:

"Black Leader, this is Green Squadron, First Order's got some new tech we can't outrun, we can't give you more of an opening than we already made."

" _ **Copy Green Squadron, hang tight, we're just a few parsecs out, won't be a minute!"**_

"You'd better not be more than that!" Green Leader rebuked, as she saw the tri-winged frames come into her eyesight, half a second away from meeting them head on.

A brief skirmish of lasers flew at them, one A-wing clipped on the wing spiralling out of control as the two flights passed by at a breakneck pace. Not a half second after they passed, the TIE Defenders were pulling around to give chase, while the A-wings dove for the planet.

* * *

Further out however, more Resistance Fighters dropped out of Hyperspace, screaming towards the planet as well, Black and Blue squadrons screamed towards Loneh, wings folded together for faster speed to their engines.

Adjusting the controls on his jammers, Poe comm'd to all fighters in the squadrons behind him as they flew in formation, the distant specks of the squadrons visibly only on his scanners.

"Now or never everyone. No word on the base shields being down, but lets try and make hell for them while we give them a chance."

BB-8 whistled through the comms, as the droid swivelled in its mount to sight the fighters ahead. The flock of TIE fighters that had been joining the TIE Defenders in pursuing the faster A-wings peeled off, veering to intercept the more numerous, inbound X-wings.

"All craft full power down onto the planet, then break into your usual teams, wait for the word to attack the factory."

Their red sublight drives glowing, the hail of laser fire catching them from the broadside missed them considerably, the flock of TIE fighters veering to join the chase as the X-wings screamed down.

"Black Flight, let's get those new ships off Green flight."

" **Copy Black Leader, we've got your back."**

Smiling slightly, Poe rolled his X-wing slowly as he dove with Black flight, the thin atmosphere of Loneh beginning to head the leading edges of his craft's ray shields enough to be visibly as a faint orange glow against their blue energy sheen.

* * *

 **Main command facility, vehicle service bay**

Darting from the service elevator they'd taken, the four quickly saw the snowspeeder sitting near their exit point, having unloaded some supply crates a few minutes ago.

Finn pulled out his blaster, firing off a stun round at the Stormtrooper that first noticed them right as Rey fired her own stolen blaster. Finn's shot sent the trooper sprawling, but the red blast from Rey's blaster fried a hole through his lower right neck, clearly killing him.

Glancing at one another, Rey and Finn exchanged a look of conflict as Han shot the other Stormtrooper, Chewbacca darting past to roughly shove the supply crate off the speeder and onto the ground. With a groan, the Wookie gestured from them to climb aboard as the alarms from across the base warned of a Resistance attack.

"Try not to leave too many bodies kid, it leaves a trail right to us." Han nagged sardonically, pockering his DL-44 blaster as Chewbacca gunned the speeder to accelerate out onto the snowy plains, following the mag tube line towards the distant factory facility.

"They're just Stormtroopers, not like they treated me so kindly."

"We shouldn't really give ourselves away until after we've blown the shield generator."

"You betrayed them, but why are you not really willing to shoot them to kill?"

"Who said I'm not!?" Finn asked, leaning aggressively towards Rey for a moment, before she gestured to his blaster:

"You used a stun shot, that's-."

Her eyes widened at the familiar lightsaber on Finn's belt, her own then narrowing as she pointed at it sharply:

"Where did you get that?"

"Han gave it to me. He trusts me with it, and his life."

"Still seeing about that big shot." Han retorted, while he masked his face from the snow whipping up from their fast speed across the snowy plains. Finn turned to Rey with a semi-pleading, semi determined look:

"Betraying them isn't something I'll be fully comfortable with after just a few days. But I insisted we come get you, it was my idea instead of going straight to the shields."

"Why?" Rey asked sceptically, to which Finn turned away slightly before remarking:

"You were taken by the Order, I know what that's like. Most Stormtroopers were taken from a young age, too young for it to hurt most of the time, but you at least knew your childhood, your family. I couldn't stand by knowing you were losing what I never had."

Rey's judging expression turned softer, as she admitted quietly to Finn from her seated position:

"I didn't really have much of either to be honest…"

"How did you escape anyway? You seemed to get out fine without us." Finn suddenly asked, turning to Rey with a quizzical expression. At this, she shrugged her shoulders with a look of self-puzzlement:

"It's complicated, you wouldn't believe it if I told you…"

"Hey, swap stories later." Han interjected, pointing to an inbound First Order snowspeeder coming up on their rear.

The engines flared up, but as they looked on, Rey shook her head, thinking:

"We don't have time for this, you got anything we can hit them with?"

As Finn began to raise his blaster rifle towards the distant snowspeeder, about to fire, Han put a hand on his shoulder, remarking with a smirk:

"Yes we do."

Pulling a hand into the bag he was carrying, while Chewbacca kept the speeder going fast at high speed, Han handed one of the small bombs to Finn, who shared a wry look with Han before twisting one of the dials on it, and swiftly tossing it out of the back of the snowspeeder.

* * *

Rolling to a stop, the small bomb rested as their speeder tore off parallel to the Mag-tube, while behind them, the First order Stormtroopers began to fire their first few shots at the distant stolen speeder.

As their speeder came up however, the bomb ticked in detection, and a large plume of snow and thermal blasts ripped the ground apart, flipping the snowspeeder violently over end to catapult the troopers who weren't caught by shrapnel to a sudden crash into the snow.

Far ahead, the stolen speeder carried on, while in the distance, flak guns opened up on a few dogfights breaking out across the nearby plains and mountains.

* * *

 **Loneh, volcanic plains**

The distant factory superstructure loomed on the horizon, but out here, the lava fields venting from the volcanic systems churning under the planet surface bled to the surface.

The black charred landscape was pocked with veins and small streams of red lava, their fumes shimmering against the cold snow flecked air.

At one of the First Order mining facility's, siphoning off the mineral rich lava for its uses, the usual hovercraft pulling the loads of unprocessed Kyber crystal ore loads were parked safely as the Stormtroopers rallied out, and the support staff went to their bunkers.

The anti-air battery lit up the sky with heavy rounds, the green pulses firing skywards towards the distant fighters to explode in flak bursts all around.

High above, piercing the cloud cover, the flak bursts surrounded one of many small dogfights that had broken out from the scattered squadrons of Resistance and First Order pilots.

Rolling his X-wing, Poe saw one of the normal TIE fighters go barrelling down in smoke, one wing gone, to crash into the lava strewn black plains below, as he kept up chase of the TIE Defender still on the tail of Green Leader.

" **Get him off me Black Leader!"**

"Hang on Green Leader, just keep still for just a moment!"

Weaving sideways, rolling and swooping to and fro over the snow bordered lava plains, Poe clenched his jaw as he saw the Defender miss his laser sights yet again, while it unleashed another barrage towards the desperately weaving A-wing.

Diving low, the A-wing rustled up some streams of lava flecks as it roared overhead, the TIE Defender keeping higher up as it fired.

Diving slightly, Poe squeezed the trigger, and gave a loud whoop as one of its tri-wings was blasted off, and the TIE Defender went spinning to smash into the ground half a second later by its low flying.

"You're clear Green Leader! Regroup and get ready for the shields going down."

" **Watch it Black Leader, you've got pair of tails. We're coming to get them!"**

In its socket, BB-8 tweeted loudly as it saw a trio of fighters on Poe's tail, two normal TIE fighters, and behind them, approaching faster, a TIE Defender.

Making a pass for the nearby mountain canyons, Poe saw thw flak from the nearby mining facility AA gun fade, while the TIE Defender pulled ahead of the normal Fighters. But from above, Blacks 3, 4 and 5 roared down, S-foils split as their lasers rained down. The leading TIE Defender was cut to ribbons, crashing into the nearby snow-covered mountain slope it was pulling to soar over.

One TIE fighter was damaged, a fiery smoke trail now behind it as it peeled away, keeping low, while the other TIE veered to immediately give chase to the two Black flight X-wings. Black 4 remained behind, in formation with Poe as he pulled up.

But from above, as it pierced the cloud banks, a TIE Defender screamed down, lasers cutting Black 4 to pieces for them to rain upon the mountain banks, whilst Poe dove away into the canyons, snow rising as he kept low towards the mountain walls, the TIE Defender giving chase.

"B get that turret going, I'll keep his sights off us!"

The little droid beeped as it set to work, hacking into the X-wings systems as it deployed the underside mounted blaster turret, aiming it around to fire on the chasing TIE Defender.

Pulling hard around the canyon wall, Poe rolled the X-wing as another burst of laser fire missed his wings, stray rocks from both the Defender's lasers, and his own tail gun's fire hitting rocks they flew past already, scattering into the snowy crevices alone.

BB-8 beeped as a few shots deflected off the Defender's forward shields, Poe grunting loudly as he pulled them into a half loop and roll:

"Shut it down B, his shields are too strong, forward cannons or more will do it."

Pulling sharply down and to the right, Poe dove into yet another series of corkscrews, yet the TIE Defender kept pace, periodically firing off laser bursts. As the chase became more of a weave upwards and downwards, Poe fired off a few bursts of his own, only for neither to get a true aim on the other.

"Come on, what's taking the shield so long..?"

BB-8 whistled in frantic agreement, as they pulled into a dive, the Defender and Poe spiralling towards the lava vein leaking mountains as they tried to get a firing line on the other.

* * *

 **Loneh, main factory complex**

Screaming overhead, one of the X-wings weaved hopelessly as one of the TIE Defenders fired bursts at it, only for a flak gun to blast the X-wing in the side enough to stop its movements, the Defender's lasers slicing its left wings off and send it spinning to the ground. The X-wing collided with the base's particle shielding, sending ripples across its surface as it deflected to fall onto the snowy grounds outside its perimeter.

Higher above, more laser bursts from ground fire filled the skies as one A-wing pilot, in a bid of frustration, let loose a barrage of laser fire upon the shields, the trail of ripples only serving as a last insult before a pair of TIE fighters got onto its tail and began to chase it skywards.

Further away, another X-wing pilot desperately manuevered to avoid the flak guns, as it shot down a First Order TIE Fighter to send it spiralling to a crash a half kilometre from where a stolen snowspeeder was pulling up to the factory's less frequented side entrances.

* * *

The speeder coming to a stop as the TIE fighter crashed in the snow a visible distance away, Han got out first, while Rey and Finn both leapt out, Chewbacca carrying the other bag of mini bombs they'd brought as sabotage. Overhead though, the dogfighting happening above and others further away only served as a grim reminder of what remained to be done.

"We have to move, they can't keep this up for long." Han spoke up, as Chewbacca growled in agreement, arming his bowcaster. Looking around, Rey turned to Finn, giving a hesitant, but entrusting look as she asked him:

"Well, where now?"

"Service hatch, droids use it mostly. This way."

Finn pulled on ahead, as Rey followed him after a slight pause, looking down slightly before following the ex-stormtrooper. Bringing up the rear, Han spoke to Chewbacca briskly:

"Make sure the ship's ready to pick us up, we don't wanna hang round long."

Grumbling as if not to be nagged, Chewbacca set about some signals on his wrist communicator while Finn pulled open a small service hatch with his hands, ducking down to walk with his head low while Rey, Han and then Chewbacca came in after him, though the Wookie had to crawl due to his larger height.

Overhead though, the dogfight raged still, the shields holding strong.

* * *

 **Loneh Factory, upper levels**

Striding across the walkway, Kylo Ren milled about absentmindedly almost, helmeted head turning to and fro as he gazed upon the lines of military equipment being assembled and readied in the massive complex before him.

TIE Fighters and newer Defenders, armour panels of the reflective prototypes used to devastating effect against the Hosnian Prime capital city, assembly lines putting together yet to be completed ground vehicle prototypes.

Yet his mind couldn't be further from the pride others might feel at this sight, at least for those involved with the First Order.

"Han Solo…" Kylo mused, his head turning slightly, the predatory tone in his voice giving his mask an insidious, unseen menace, like an animal smelling prey from afar.

"Sir, intrusion detected in the lower levels of the complex, headed towards the generator levels. We suspect they were also involved in incursions in one of the mining facilities and the detention facility."

"Mobilise security squads to the generator level, this is likely a sabotage operation by the Resistance. No prisoners."

Not even bothering to wait for the First Order officer to give his salute to him, Kylo Ren strode away towards the walkway's elevator structures, his dark figure imposing even amidst the factory's vast depths.

* * *

 **Further expanding the vehicle roster, the First Order fields the TIE Defender, or a variant suited to them which, like the normal TIE, is simply upgraded from what the Imperials had. As a limited fighter, it would be in reserve at more important targets, or defending one place of its manufacture.**

 **A key asset to this reimagining is this. Now that Poe is a more established character, whatever dogfighting he gets involved in actually has some weight to it. But for added bonus, to make him seem less like an unparalleled pilot, I figured at least one First Order pilot, in a fighter that can match the T-70 or more, should give Poe a hard time. An ace to ace confrontation. After all, in Legends lore Tie Defender pilots in the empire were picked from the best, so the same would apply to First Order practices with better fighter craft.**

* * *

 **On the ground meanwhile, there's a slight conflict of ideals, but not to an annoying degree that the official TFA did avoid to its credit. Rey's a little too trigger happy, Finn's hesitant due to too many old friends. This aggressive disposition towards the Order on Rey's part will come into play later as a contrast of her own struggles against another foe. But she sheds her distrust in wake of hearing why Finn came after her, relating to his turn. She has a character arc that involves a change in her initially withdrawn personality, hesitant to help others unless necessary, and distrusting those that wronged her.**

* * *

 **But as for their ease of passage between the detention/command facility and the factory, a big Resistance aerial assault would be enough of a distraction. Something in TFA that they did do, but not emphasize enough to avoid more obvious plot holes.**

 **Also, a brief speeder chase, but subverted as an action 'scene' with a simple mine bomb blowing up their pursuers.**

* * *

 **Reviews welcomed, but from here on I will try and publish chapters more regularly. I'm nearly finished with this story anyway, just a few more chapters at the rate I'm going.**


	15. Evils of Order

**Loneh, planet surface**

 **Lava fields**

Tearing low across the lava fields, weaving as the TIE Defender still was on his tail, Poe grunted he pulled into another hard right, wisps of smoke from the lava cracked lakes below swirling from his wingtip vortex's of his low, fast flyby. The Defender's laser-fire ripped apart the lava as he passed, while the T-70 X-wing he piloted tore on towards the mountain ridges again. As he flew by, one of the laser bursts ripped into Poe's wing, a faint smoke trail coming off as one of his radiator wings was damaged, a blasted hole in the wing armour the damage he took thanks to life saving on-board shields.

"Alright B, I've had enough of this guy. Full power to the engines!"

BB-8 chirped in acknowledgement, as the S-foils of the X-wing folded inwards, the damaged one slower then the others, while the red glowing engines lit up further. Pulling smoothly upwards, Poe tore skywards, the TIE Defender giving more power to its own engines as it fell behind in the skywards climb over the lava fields.

"That's it, okay... Full weapons power, cut engines!"

As he yelled, Poe swung the X-wing around in a snap-yaw, a last burst of his engines and controls spinning the fighter around in a very sharp turn. BB-8 whistled nervously as it shut down the engines, and weapons powered up to maximum.

Seeing his gun-sights fill, Poe squeezed the trigger as he strained against the deceleration from his X-wing now facing backwards, towards the incoming TIE Defender. Lasers filled the sky before him, and the Defender closing towards him rolled to avoid the sudden manoeuvre. Lasers penetrated the shields, damaging one of the outwards tilted solar array wings, forcing the Defender to turn to a level flight as smoke and debris trailed from the upper wing array.

As the spin finished, Poe straightened up, the TIE Defender screaming ahead as his own engines were still diverting power to the weapons. Seeing the gunsights fill again, Poe jammed his finger on the trigger.

Laser bolts ripped through the air one last time, as the damaged array was severed, the now two winged TIE Defender spinning out of control as it spiralled down. This low to the ground, the Defender crashed into a fireball on the lava plains below.

Pulsing his X-wing's engines, Poe gave a whoop for joy as BB-8 whistled loudly, diverting power from the weapons to the engines as they accelerated away.

"We got him B!"

Over BB-8's whistles in similar celebration, Poe looked out of the cockpit, seeing the distant factory still intact, and the Resistance fighters darting all over the skies, a battle of attrition they couldn't keep up.

* * *

With a reluctant sigh, Poe remarked to BB-8 as he gunned the X-wing's engines, accelerating to a large dogfight taking place over a mountain ridge:

"B, open a channel to command and all squads."

The control panel emitted a noise signalling the comms were open, and Poe made the call as he flew straight and level, a tone of hesitation in his voice as he spoke:

"This is Black Leader. We can't keep up this for much longer. Black squadron, begin targeting any unshielded structures you can. Power relays, transport hubs, anything. If we can't take out their facility, we'll do as much damage as we can. Command, requesting alternate valuable targets that we can destroy."

 _ **"Copy Black Leader."**_

"C'mon guys, hurry..."

Banking, Poe turned his X-wing towards the long stretching magloop train lines, as another of his squadron's X-wings joined up alongside him. Further behind, an A-wing accelerated to join their squadron too.

Streaking down, the trio of fighters, joining into a single attack pattern, rained down laser fire on the magtube line, ripping the tunnel to shreds as they passed overhead.

Banking to make another pass, Poe kept sparing glances towards the factory, ground fire from stormtroopers in a snowspeeder peppering the sky around him and the other two fighters with him.

* * *

 **D'Qar, Resistance base**

 **Command** **center**

"Black Squadron, continue targeting transit structures, Blue Squadron diver to the secondary mining facilities at the following coordinates."

"Green Squadron be advised, additional enemy fighters inbound from blockade in orbit."

As the activity in the command center heated up, the mood was tense. Standing over the display holotable, General Leia's expression was stern as she heard the news from the communications officer that stood before her as she turned to face him:

"General, we're picking up comm chatter, the First Order's tracing the fighters, they're looking for our base."

"Oh my, they will surely send an attack force as soon as they have our location. It will take a miracle to help us."

C-3PO's nervous remark behind her, as the protocol droid had been analyzing the battle displays for himself, merely said aloud the fears General Leia and too many others here had at this moment.

"Han, hurry up..." Leia grumbled, her eyes turning to the blue and green holodisplays.

* * *

 **Command facility, communications center**

"General Hux, we've identified the sector the Resistance fighters originated from, and their planet. D'qar."

"As soon as you have it, mobilize the task force, have a destroyer ready to transport them when they reach orbit, I want the only ships they greet after their raid to be ours..."

A chorus of salute and acknowledgements greeted Hux as he strode past, scowling over the view-port that beheld the view of the snow planes, and the distant factory far away.

Hux stared out as he saw the hanger ports open up, as a few AAL's were deployed, and stormtroopers already rushing to begin loading them with supplies, weapons, and even heavy weapons.

But a call on his personal commlink distracted him, as word came over comms from Kylo Ren himself:

 _ **"General, I and what troopers I gathered are on route to intercept the intruders. Perhaps my presence will yield success where your forces alone failed."**_

"The only reason they failed is because treachery of this scale has not happened before. I expect you to fulfill your part Ren."

 _ **"If treason is so detrimental to your ranks, perhaps the First Order should have considered a Clone Army, then obedience would be more of a guarantee if history is to judge."**_

"My forces are competent, Knight. Just find the intruders and eliminate them!"

 _ **"You don't command me General, do not assume me unable to tackle simple issues like your troopers have proven to so far."**_

Snapping the commlink shut, Hux scowled as he stormed off to the inner comms centre, staring ahead darkly as he walked, utterly ignoring the respectful salutes he got as he left the comm center.

* * *

 **First Order Factory facility, lower levels**

As he finished the call to General Hux, Kylo Ren stepped out of the turbo-lift, as the stormtroopers already filed out, issuing orders among themselves to fan out among the labyrinthine lower levels of the factory, devoted to power and resource storage and generation.

All but storming down the long gantry, the advancing troops and their dark robed leader were dwarfed by the cavernous depths of the facility's lower levels. A mist formed at the base of the immense well, a result of coolant for the gargantuan power cell banks and generators leaking out and collecting at the base of the depths of the facility's underbelly.

* * *

 **Elsewhere in the lower levels**

Pulling his personal wrist device away from the wall socket, Chewbacca grumbled aloud to the others as Han nodded to the others, especially to Finn:

"Thank you Phasma... Your ex-commander's codes worked. Let's move, they won't buy the cameras showing a still image for long..."

Running along the corridors as swiftly as they could, they came to a stop at the balcony and walkway on one of the upper levels. Far below, the mist bottomed well of the main reactor section of the facility's underbelly loomed.

Looking down into the abyss, Han pulled out one of the bombs from his own pack, uncertain. Chewbacca leaned over the railing, nervously whining while Finn gestured down the reactor shaft, with some trepidation."

"We just have to get down there, plant the bombs."

A sound of stormtroopers patrolling the balconies lower down, as well as radio chatter carrying up, forced the four of them to pull back from the balcony edge. Looking at the bombs they had packed, Rey remarked with a breathless air of doubt:

"I think you should have brought more of those..."

"If we can't get down there unseen and out, that's the least of our worries." Han grumbled, while Finn replied to Han while sternly explaining to him:

"No, the lava feeds the factories with materials, they're not the main power source aside from backup power. See those power banks? The reactors use materials mined from the magma mines. They're where power for the shields comes from."

"That's all well and good kid, but how do we get down there to plant the bombs?" Han sardonically replied to Finn, while Chewbacca glanced around the corner, bowcaster in hand, in case they were spotted.

"Why not disrupt the cooling plant? The whole reactor system shuts down for safety."

At Rey's sudden thought, all eyes turned to her. Finn spoke first, interested, while Han patiently listened:

"How do we do that? I wasn't an engineer here, just guarding."

Rey looked down the large well they saw, before she pointed with her finger down towards the lower level balconies they saw, and some large pipes that sharply dove down along the rim of the well's vertical walls. Fiin glanced down himself as she explained quickly:

"See those pipes? They pump coolant down into the reactor well. I've seen similar ones on the shipwrecks on Jakku. If we rupture enough of them the whole system would have to shut down or it would overheat."

"Not as far down, we can get there unseen better than the reactors themselves. I guess coming to save you had its payoff after all." Han remarked, to which Rey gave a thankful nod to the elder man. Meanwhile, Finn replied with some concern:

"We can't be too long, the Resistance can't keep up their fight above."

"Right. Split up, we'll be less likely spotted. Take some bombs, go to as many pipes as you can."

"You sure?" Finn asked, while Rey had a look of uncertainty on her face at his idea, a fear she shared with the very man who proposed it:

"I wouldn't suggest it if I had a better idea." Han replied, as Chewbacca dropped the bag of charges he carried next to Han's, and let Finn and Rey take some more in hand:

"We'll take the middle level, there's more pipes to hit there."

"Chewie, take the top. I'll hit the lower level's."

"That bridge, it leads to an emergency exit. Head out that way, fast, as soon as you're done." Finn pointed out, as they all looked to see a narrow walkway bridge that stretched across the well, one of a handful that spanned the gap along the kilometre long, canyon-like well that hid the reactor beneath the coolant mist.

Giving a stiff nod, Han stood up, grumbling to them both:

"You two stay out of trouble if you can help it. I'll see you soon."

Beside him, Chewbacca growled as he began to head off as well. Before them, the main walkway turned to a series of service ladders, where Chewbacca was already climbing up to the upper levels. Meanwhile, Han peered down the ladder well, blaster in hand, before he climbed down out of sight.

"Let's go." Rey urged Finn on, while they pressed on down the walkway, the first of the large coolant pipes beckoning nearest to them.

* * *

Keeping his head down as he checked any direction around the maze of pipes and support structures, Finn kept sparing glances towards Rey, as she ensured the detonation pack secured in place, the charge set to go.

"Next one, c'mon!" Rey whispered slightly, gesturing for Finn to go, as she sighted the next cooling pipe.

* * *

Kneeling down, Chewbacca pressed the detonation charge's adhesive side in place, arming it with a simple button press before shuffling off, ducking low out of sight as another patrol of stormtroopers came into view further ahead.

Sidling through, Chewbacca kept low as he saw a First Order engineering officer near one of the cooling pipes. But a slight clunk as Chewbacca shuffled against a pipe array for cover got the man's attention, his brows furrowing in confusion.

Curiously, leaving his toolbox behind, the black clothed engineering officer approached, glancing around as to where the noise came from. Walking slowly over to the pipe array, he barely had time to react as a pair of hairy arms leaped forth and seized his neck, strangling and choking the man before he could even emit a cry for help.

Keeping the engineer deprived of air, the Wookie shuffled up, tilting his head as the man slowly passed out. Dropping the man with a quiet release, the Wookie continued on towards the cooling pipe, pulling out another detonation charge.

* * *

Inside his cover spot, Han kept his head down, the smuggler letting the stormtrooper patrol pass by without hassle before he shuffled on, seeing the cooling pipe wall ahead of him.

"Ren want them alive, keep searching."

The smuggler's brows furrowed deeply at the remark from the passing Stormtrooper, as he stayed low in cover. Casting a slight glance towards the next cooling pipe, the elder man gave a shrug as he buried his thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

* * *

On the opposite side of the chasm sized well that masked the lower reactor array, a masked figure

Marching down the walkway, Kylo Ren came to a stop at the edge of the platform, a fair distance from where the intruders had entered from, unbeknownst to him.

Tilting his head about, as if sensing his prey, the masked man proceeded onward, noting the flecks of white stormtrooper armor he glanced across the walkways from time to time on the balconies on the chasm's opposite side.

Coming to a pause for a brief moment, Kylo surveyed the opposite side of the chasm, staring, watching for the intruders.

"They're here..."

Murmuring to himself, the masked man spared a glance towards the gantry way that extended across the chasm nearest him, one that led to the emergency exits from the factory facility's lower levels.

Booted footsteps echoed as he continued on, his fingers lightly stroking the handle of his lightsaber as he marched along.

Turning to head towards the nearby stairwell, Kylo Ren briskly set a pace up the stairs, each stride echoing like the heartbeat in his ears.

* * *

On the mid level, as he checked the coast was clear, Finn gestured to go to Rey, as she went on ahead of him, running briskly and as quiet as they could. All eyes in here were searching for them inside the inner areas of each wall's sides, while she and Finn saw the exit tunnels beckoning ahead of them, the stairwell leading to the balconies of the other side the only way on and off.

Each footsteps echoed painfully to them, as they managed to get across the halfway point before Chewbacca came to the hiding spot just before the bridge, having just climbed down the ladder well and made his way to the gantry way. Sparing glances each way, the Wookie ran forwards, his furry feet and lesser hard soled attire a blessing in this regard.

Darting into the exit tunnel, Rey turned to make sure Finn was still unseen, the ex-stormtrooper nodding in thanks as Chewbacca briskly made his way forwards.

Quietly gesturing for him to go on ahead, Rey let Finn dash up the stairs, blaster ready along with her own, up the stairwell. Down below, Chewbacca just made it across the bridge, barely avoiding a passing glance by a stormtrooper on the side they'd just come from.

* * *

Across the other side of the chasm, a stormtrooper spared a glance across the chasm, nearly doing a double take as he saw what looked like a brown shaggy creature vanished into the doorway across the other side.

Hiding inside his own cover as he made his way there, Han silently cursed as the stormtrooper stayed there, in his way of an easy escape.

Knowing he'd have a narrow window, Han eyed up the bridge, before he checked on the position of every stormtrooper he could see, this side and the other.

As the one he'd been held up by began to patrol down the gangways again, once he got far enough away, Han shuffled from his hiding spot, blaster ready, as he made a mad dash.

Radio chatter broke out as Han ran across the bridge, his boot-steps echoing off the facility well's massive walls of pipes and power arrays. Random blaster fire shot his way, but Han was too far across and too far away from those that spotted him.

Sparing a glance ahead, Han saw a pair of stormtroopers on a walkway off to the far left of the bridge, firing at him. But Han noticed one of them make a hand gesture, and soon afterwards his partner, and the others, stopped firing their blasters.

Ignoring this strange behaviour, Han pressed on, panting as he saw he was within 20 metres of the doorway, and the stairwell that led to the surface exit.

But a flash of red span into existence from the right, as a lightsaber, hurled through the air in a spinning manner, slashed, burned, and buried itself in the doorway's circuit panel. The exit door slammed shut, while the lightsaber burned drops of molton metal onto the ground while imbedded.

Coming to a stop, still just 15 metres from freedom, Han turned his gaze to the right, his face falling and yet also turning darker as he saw a black figure advancing from a nearby stairwell.

Kylo Ren reached out his hand, the lightsaber springing from the wall to fly through the air, deactivated, into his outstretched fingers.

Han stood still as the masked man stepped before him, onto the bridge walkway, 15 metres from him.

Across the chasm on both sides, stormtroopers trained their gun-sights on the smuggler, while their leader slowly advanced to stand opposite this intruder.

* * *

"Ben..." Han breathlessly spoke to the figure standing before him. The mask's voice replied in a cold metallic tone that invited no warmth:

"Han Solo... I've been waiting for this day a long time."

Scowling, Han slowly took a few steps forwards, his blaster holstering as he did so. All across the chasm, stormtrooper gun-sights trained on him:

* * *

Stood near the top of the stairwell, peering from a few open support struts, Chewbacca softly growled at the sight of Han standing before the masked man on the bridge, and the stormtroopers watching with their weapons ready from all sides of the chasm.

Further up, the Wookie noticing with the sound of a few footsteps only he was close enough to hear, Finn and Rey turned towards the sound of the commotion, able to barely hear the words as they carried up the still air of the facility power well's abyss.

* * *

"Take off that mask, you don't need it."

The mask was unresponsive, not even a finger twitching as it replied coldly:

"What do you think you'll see if I do?"

"The face of my son."

Han's words rang across the depths of the facility chamber, and up on high, both Finn and Rey's blasters in hand drooped slightly at these words. Chewbacca gave a nervous twitch of his facial fur, the Wookie bristling at the situation his friend was trapped in.

Pausing slightly, the masked man finally raised his hands to his mask, mechanisms loudly detaching before he pulled the helmet from his head, the mask clunking loudly as he took it in one hand to hold beside him.

Thick, long black hair, a worn but still youthful face adorned with a slightly large nose, lay beneath the mask's depths. Ben Solo stared back at Han, face impassive before it began to slowly morph into one of subtle defiance:

"Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish, like his father. So I destroyed him."

Spoken as if it were fact by his son, Han's face fell slightly as his attention became diverted to his son, and nothing else.

"That's what Snoke wants you to believe, but its not true. My son is alive."

"No, the Supreme Leader is wise." Ben's words were laced with shaky confidence, and Han sensed a sliver of humanity that he could prise away at, somehow. Carefully taking single steps towards his son, Han continued to urge the Knight of Ren of his folly:

"Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants from you he'll crush you. You know its true."

Shaking his head slightly, Ben looked down ever so briefly before he replied with a sad tone to his voice:

"It's too late."

"No its not. Leave here with me, come home. We miss you." Han now found himself mere feet from his son, staring into his face, and despite so long since last seeing it, he recognised it as his flesh and blood.

* * *

A slight shaking consumed Ben's frame for a moment, as he softly admitted before Han:

"I'm being torn apart... I want to be free of this pain."

Breathing deeply, Han's face was full of sincere concern and parental sympathy as Ben made his inner demons known:

"I know what I have to, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?"

"Anything." Han replied with certainty, crestfallen face gaining what could be described as a glimmer of hope. Hesitating for a moment, Ben slowly bent down to deposit his helmet on the walkway, the metallic headgear ringing out with a clunk across the abyssal gap and bridge as he stood to face his father eye-to-eye yet again.

Taking a moment to gather himself, Ben Solo took the lightsaber from his belt, slowly holding it up before Han in one hand, his eyes hard as he made sure to keep his composure. His father gave a stiff nod, seeing the lightsaber pointing out from Ben's hand, quivering slightly as he waited for his father to take it.

Reaching out slowly, Han's fingers slowly reached out to the saber's grip.

At that instant, a cold chill, and a noise almost as if the air itself took a breath, echoed in Han's ears. His hand froze, and straining slightly, Han realized he was stuck where he was.

Looking at Ben, Han saw his son's eyes had hardened, the glimmer of reluctance he saw in his son's eyes beginning to be swallowed by the blankness of dark motive he saw the moment the helmet had been removed, which now took hold.

The lightsaber, still pointing at him with its deactivated state, quivered as Ben was clearly at war with himself. Straining through the shaky force grip restraining him, Han's fingers slowly grazed the lightsaber grip, and his eyes looked into Ben's.

The moment his fingers touched the grip, trying to wrap around it, Han saw Kylo Ren's dark expression return with a scowl, and a loud hiss like a snake split the air. An intense, burning pain filled Han's gut.

A glistening red blade protruded from his back, hissing loudly as Han went into shock.

* * *

Up higher on the exit stairwell, Chewbacca roared loudly in anguish, while Finn staggered back in shock at the act. Rey screamed out loud, horrified at what had occurred in wake of revelations of family ties to the masked figure she'd been at the mercy of not too long ago.

* * *

On the bridge, leaning in, the shakiness in his voice leaving, Kylo Ren whispered to Han Solo as his red blade burned in his torso still:

"Thank you."

Pulling back the lightsaber, Kylo took a single step backwards as Han stood precariously there, reaching out desperately to his son's face. Pained expression on his face, Han's outstrethed hand barely touched a few fingers to Kylo's face, making the dark look on the Knight of Ren's face falter for a moment.

Then, the smuggler pitched over, the abyss of coolant gases below swallowing the smuggler's body, the Knight of Ren standing on the bridge, red crossguard saber glowing as he stared down at the swathe of vapours that had consumed the body.

Kylo's face remained blank as he stared down, the darkness held at bay for a while as uncertainty filled his mind.

* * *

 **D'Qar, Resistance base**

General Leia felt a great emptiness, a pang, in her chest, forcing her to sit down.

She felt as if a part of her had suddenly been lost, taken from her suddenly, the shock overwhelming the veteran general to the point where her face became gaunt and unfocused. She merely shut her eyes, not letting this moment of unexpected grief consume her too much.

Deep down, she knew someone wasn't coming back from the mission.

* * *

 **First Order Factory facility, lower levels**

Chewbacca's bellow of outrage filled the chamber, as he whipped up his bowcaster and fired a barrage of bolts down towards the bridge.

Snapping from his lost state, Kylo Ren spun around to deflect the first three bolts with his lightsaber, but the sheer power behind each blast staggered the Knight enough to force him down, until the fourth shot connected, blasting a great wound in Kylo Ren's side. Grunting, nearly even yelling aloud from the impact, Kylo Ren doubled over in agony on the bridge as chaos erupted in the facility depths.

Stormtroopers opened fired on the stairwell, as Chewbacca surged upwards and towards the exit. Up on high, Rey furiously fired back at the stormtroopers firing up from all directions, while Finn pulled her back towards the entry doorway. Charging past them, Chewbacca gave a loud growl as he held out his wrist device, and pressed the button on its top.

* * *

Coolant pipes blew open at their edges, the detonation charges rupturing the deeply refrigerated liquid pipes enough to send a cascade of exposed coolant flooding down into the abyss with enough vapor rising to make the place seem as if a waterfall had suddenly materialized inside.

Stormtroopers on the further side of the chasm were blown away by each blast, or frozen by the wave of coolant liquid that flash froze them where they were caught.

Power systems surged loudly before beginning to power down, alarm klaxons loudly blaring across the facility, the emergency reactor shutdown initiating.

* * *

The factory's lighting and security warnings turned red as backup generators kicked in, factory assembly lines and magma distiller facilities grinding to a halt as the large power supply they needed was shut off.

The shield generator's constant humming stopped all of a sudden, the faint shimmer of the snowfall on its dome shaping stopping as the shield suddenly vanished, leaving the snow to fall uninterrupted.

* * *

Wincing as he stood on his knees, Kylo Ren almost snarled in the general direction he'd seen the shots coming from. Glancing sideways, Kylo grabbed his helmet, and very swiftly replaced it on his head with a metallic hiss and click lost over the alarms and hissing of escaping coolant.

The masked figure stared up, the wound on his side throbbing painfully as he came to his feet, and began swiftly hobbling forwards before breaking out into a long striding walk towards a few stormtroopers waiting to receive orders from him.

* * *

 **Keeping with an element of whether to doubt or trust, Poe takes the initiative to divert focus to other targets while the resistance was there risking themselves on a hope of success.**

 **Meanwhile, the 'timer' threat is more understandable, as they are actively tracing the origin of the attack precisely before launching a counterattack.**

 **As for the sabotage of the facility itself. the magma mining is more for raw materials and low level geothermal power, but the mined materials yield fuel for more energy dense reactors a large factory would need, especially one with an active shield generator.**

* * *

 **And that 'death' scene, is altered enough where Han doesn't actively wander into a trap in an overdramatic, over staged and needless manner, but is merely a victim of being the last across as he tries to escape himself, caught in a pincer move by the First Order security his son is part of. He didn't know his son was coming for him, which only adds to the tragedy and horror of it.**

* * *

 **In a minor tweak for visual sake, Ben would hold out the saber muzzle first, in a manner as if ceremoniously handing it over. But Ben's hesitation manifests before Han touches it, as he force grips his body to stop him, but is shaky. Its the moment Han's fingers touch his saber that Kylo takes over, performing the deed as his saber is already facing in the right direction.**

 **Same principle with Han touching his face, slightly less contact, but enough for the same impact.**

* * *

 **And to display that Kylo does have limits, he can defelct full bowcaster shots, but each oen is liek a hammer blow, to the point where enough shots, 4, gives him he side wound, not just a single lucky shot so soon after a very loud roar.**

 **On a side note, to further emphasize Ben is gone, Kylo takes the mask as a sort of signal of that to all concerned, a symbol of the Order and all that.**

* * *

 **Longest chapter this far, likely longest in this story, because once I got to Han's death scene I could find no suitable chapter cutoff point.**

 **Reviews/critiques welcomed as usual, though I am pleased this chapter took less time then the last few to publish. I found time to do so.**


	16. Fire and Ice

**Loneh, planet surface**

As Poe arced his X-wing around in the sky to shoot down the TIE he was pursuing, while a smoke trailing TIE screamed past off his starboard wing as the A-wing gave chase. As he came out of a roll, the call came over the comms, ecstatic news from Green Flight.

 **"All squads, scanners show the shields are down. Begin your attack runs!"**

"Copy Green Flight. Alright everyone we're going in, remember your target focus, and watch their AA guns, they're still online!"

Poe swung his X-wing over towards the facility, as the Resistance Fighters closed in on all sides to head for the factory facility. In the distance though, swarms of more TIEs launched from the facility, and it wasn't long before impromptu dogfights ensued.

But worst came as they flew in closer to the facility itself, as they became eposed to more and more antifighter ground fire from the turbolaser turrets mounted around the facility.

BB-8 whistled loudly as one TIE flew overhead in pursuit of an A-wing, while Poe winced as he heard the chaos over the chatter as they closed in on the facility from all sides:

 **"I've lost my stabiliz-ARG!"**

 **"Black four is down!"**

 **"Fighters inbound and launching, they're too many!"**

"Keep it together Black Flight. Green Flight, give us cover, we're making our runs, keep the worst of the fighters off us, we'll worry about the towers!"

 **"All squadrons, jamming stations are active across the factory, they're stronger then expected. Your missiles won't not hit their targets unless you get in close."**

Poe nearly cursed aloud at this news, while BB-8 squealed out loud as a flak burst detonated perilously close to them after they pulled out of a sweeping arc to get some altitude. As Poe glanced down at the factory down below his port wing, he saw the towers wreaking havoc across the skies. Flak guns, laser turrets firing pulses and even a few beams filling the skies. But as he saw the air directly above the factory complex, he made a call on the comms:

"Black flight, dive from above, they can't get as much an angle on us there! Fire them straight, jammers won't stop them that way."

 **"Following you Black leader!"**

Banking hard as two more X-wings flew in beside him, with an A-wing flying behind them as escort, they made the first missile run. Flying directly over the factory, the X-wings and escorting A-wing rolled and pulled hard into a vertical dive, pointing their noses directly at the main assembly grounds, the targeted tectonic weakness that would trigger an eruption, if it worked.

As flak burst around them, Poe glanced back to see a burst completely consume one of his wingmen, and the X-wing became a smoking hulk that fell behind in its vertical fall. Pressing on, his face gaunt with determination, Poe silently cursed as he fired off his missiles.

Streaking in a dead straight line without a lock-on signal, the pair of missiles flew down from Poe's X-wing and the one flying beside him. Immediately, the pair of fighters and their A-wing escort pulled up, an exhaust cooling tower structure on the factory's main superstructure coming perilously close as they blasted past.

Behind them, the concussion warheads detonated on the ground on target, fractures breaking apart the concrete and metal as the entire facility shook from the impacts.

* * *

 **First Order Factory, Main control tower**

As the concussion attacks on the main staging grounds rocked the control tower, Hux's scowl deepened immeasurably, but he was alleviated as word came from one of the operator staff corresponding with the orbiting fleet.

"General, we've traced the origin of the Resistance Fighters."

"Contact our blockade fleet, make plans to send an assault strike on their base. I want them eradicated like their Republic's fleet."

Hux walked briskly towards the main defense operations staff at this point, his stormy demeanor not much diminished as he inquired:

"What are they targeting!"

"Sir, we're not sure. There's no valuable target where they're hitting."

"Mobilize all squadrons, all reserves. I want whatever they're planning stopped now!"

As the panic at trying to get the job done ensued within the control tower, Hux strode towards the main communications officer as he demanded angrily, a vein on his temple beginning to throb:

"Get me Kylo Ren!"

"Sir, he's disabled his comms in pursuit of the infiltrators."

Silent now, as another concussion missile strike rocked the control tower, Hux's mood became thunderous as ever. These Resistance pilots had irked him enough already, and now one he hadn't heard from was off comms in the middle of an attack.

It was now that Kylo Ren became the Bane of Hux's efforts, the one cog in the First Order's machine Hux had no power over.

* * *

 **D'Qar, Resistance base**

"Oh my, they've traced the fighters back to us. We'll be destroyed for sure!"

C-3PO's lamenting cry upon his own analysis of the feedback from the battle went ignored by Leia as she glanced at the readouts on the screens, as Resistance fighters were making their bombings runs.

"They're readying one of the destroyers to head for this system General."

"Not yet! We'll give them a little more time. If they blow the factory they'll call off the attack to handle that mess."

It was a few moments before the Resistance commander nodded in agreement, hesitation on his face, before he went off to relay orders to begin preliminary evacuation protocols. She turned back to the holo-display, her face lined with worry.

"Why don't they hurry up..." Leia mumbled to herself, the nervousness she felt shown through her white knuckles on the holo-display.

* * *

 **First Order Factory facility outskirts**

 **Forest edges**

Finn led them on, the sound of pursuing stormtroopers behind them evident by the shouting following them through the forest.

Tailing behind them, Chewbacca growled loudly as he gestured to a different direction in the forest, to which Finn shouted as the Wookie began to tear off:

"Where are you going!?"

"Drawing them away, that's where, come on!" Rey exclaimed, yanking Finn along with her as they tore off into the snow covered forests, towards some clearings marked with a few steep hillsides amidst the tall coniferous forests.

Behind them, the stormtroopers pursued the Wookie, as Chewbacca began to furiously type onto his wrist console while avoiding a stray balster bolt's sparks that flew from too close a shot for his liking.

Elsewhere, two of the stormtroopers pursued the other escapees.

* * *

 **Forest depths**

Darting through the woodlands, they found about half of the snow here was somewhat melted by a few volcanic vents, the ground coated in moss and plants where the warmth from the vents contrasted with the frigid temperatures.

Clambering up a steep gully, Rey urged Finn to grab her hand before pulling him up. Behind them, the chatter calls of the stormtroopers carried through the trees, their white armour coming into view below them on the gully's base before they opened fire.

Scrambling around, Finn fired back with his blaster, the first few shots scoring hits on the trooper's chest armour enough to send him sprawling on the snow. But the second ducked behind a tree for cover as he fired back at Finn. Behind him atop the gully however, Rey darted around a few metres, as the stormtrooper saw her running for a better angle and lined up his shot.

But Finn's blaster shot the trooper's arm, making him drop the blaster, in his distraction having leant out too much to shoot Rey. Rey's own shots hailed towards him, not as accurate as Finn's, but getting the job done.

Breathing through the cold air, they didn't spare a moment as they took off into the forest, along a small plateau of sorts that ran parallel to a lower lying area of forest.

Darting among the darkened shapes of the trees, as the sun had set by now, they saw the dark shapes all around them as they charged away.

"C'mon, the ship's..."

Finn cut himself off as a sizzling flash sounded in the night, and a few dozen metres in front of them, a darker shadow seemed to step out from the silhouette of one of the larger trees, a red crossguard blade crackling beside him. Rey froze beside him too, though it was their fear that immobilized them, not any force trick of the Master of Ren's doing.

* * *

His mask gave nothing away, but they knew his face. They knew beneath it was a beast that yearned to tear them apart.

"We're not done yet."

Kylo spoke now, not Ben Solo. Now, to him, there was no Ben, as was meant to be. His helmet's voice was as much his true one now, part of his visage. And the fear he felt from the traitor and the girl before him was tangible, and satisfying.

His torso wound hurt still, but his pain gave him power.

As she stared at Kylo, Finn frozen beside her, Rey spat through disgust and anticipation at the helmeted creature before them:

"You're a monster."

"Its just us now. Han Solo cannot save you, nor will Skywalker. Wherever he is, he'll be found, and he'll die like Solo did today."

As Rey glowered at him, Finn stared a cold look at his former leader, his past. Yet it wasn't long before the soldier in him noticed a weakness. As did Rey.

Absentmindedly, Kylo's left hand was angled towards his side, where a few blood flecks visibly stained the snow capped ground, as he held the blade he wielded in his right. And Kylo's voice, normally strong and smooth even through the voice modulator, seemed cracked in a way that conveyed physical pain. A wounded creature, but a dangerous one nonetheless.

Blinking a few times as tears of raw anger threatened to come forth, Rey seized the initiative, her blaster flying upwards to aim for the wound.

Rey screamed as she went flying backwards, shoved through the snow drifts and careening over the edge of the plateau's small drop. Rushing back, Finn screamed her name out as she plummeted.

As he rushed to the plateau's 20 foot drop, he saw Rey crash into a tree trunk on the way down, her screams ceasing as she then fell into a deep snow drift that had gathered around many of the trees here. Scrambling to the edge, Finn readied to climb down, but stopped himself as a crackling slash scraped the snow behind him, and his blaster went flying from his hand by an unseen force, into the forests behind him.

Kylo swiped the blade through the snow covered ground, his hand outstretched as he flung the blaster away into the distance, and advanced on Finn. The former Stormtrooper remained crouched over the small cliff edge, back turned to him.

"Traitor!"

This monster's bloodcurdling cry was made only more demonic by his mask, the faceless threat of the First Order coming to punish insubordination. Summoning his courage, in the face of likely fatal odds, Finn decided to make a stand against the Knight of Ren, if only to make a point.

Turning around, unclipping the weapon he'd already had to use once against an old friend much earlier today, Finn ignited the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker, and held it in a makeshift ready stance.

His helmeted head cocking slightly, Kylo angled his blade tip to point at Finn's lightsaber, remarking with mechanised venom:

"That lightsaber, it belongs to me."

"Come get it!"

Like the wounded animal he was, Kylo Ren charged, the helmeted figure of his former commander burning into Finn's head as he raised his blade to parry the first slash.

* * *

As Finn's blade hummed in sync, the Knight of Ren's blade hissed and crackled as he swung again, advancing as he forced Finn to give ground. Backstepping as Kylo swung another under swing at his body, Finn deflecting the strike sideways as he did, he repositioned and swung his blade for Kylo's head.

But the red blade swung back at blinding speed, catching Finn's blade and forcing it, and him, to stagger off to the side. Scrambling on the snow slightly, Finn grabbed a nearby tree trunk to hoist himself up, as he turned to see Kylo slowly advancing, blade slowly spinning in menacing slow slashes on the snow covered forest floor.

The red blade swung again, Finn ducking backwards as it carved halfway through the tree trunk. Ren was silent as he surged forwards yet again, swinging his blade wide in hammer force swings to cut Finn down. Parrying with his blade, Finn nearly staggered under the weight of each blow, barely keeping pace.

As he staggered under another blow, Finn was backed against a tree trunk, which he swiftly ducked to the side and away as Kylo's blade came swinging down, carving vertically into the trunk.

Lashing out on the offensive, Finn swung an overhead slash at Ren, but the red blade came and parried, the force of the blow making Kylo backstep slightly. Finn raised and swung down again, his blade more like an axe in how he wielded it, and Ren gave ground once more. But as he countered, Ren forced his full strength into the blade, surging it forwards enough to knock Finn onto his back and away.

About to advance, Ren suddenly grunted beneath his mask, and clasped his bleeding side in pain somewhat, punching it once or twice as he tried to get feeling back into it, turning his back to Finn for a few moments. He was getting tired from his wound, and playing with this former trooper was fast getting unsatisfying.

But Finn was still determined, as he sprang to his feet and charged Ren, who spun around to reply. Finn charged like a made bull, lightsaber out, but Ren merely sidestepped, letting Finn's weight carry him past. The ex-trooper staggered to a halt a few metres away, as Ren rounded on him, his blade swinging around once in a taunting manner before he swung it around at his enemy.

As Ren sprang upon him with a ferocious side slash, Finn parried, but Ren smoothly repositioned to swing the other way, forcing Finn to parry again, backing up the entire time. Forcing his weight onto the blade lock, Ren shoved Finn backwards, the ex-stormtrooper slamming backfirst into a tree trunk. Ren swung once more, but Finn's blade rose to block it, the crossguard blade slamming onto his in a locked formation, bristling inches from his face.

Ren's mask conveyed no emotion, but beneath it Finn knew there would be satisfaction, bloodlust, no mercy. Then, his shoulder began to burn.

Mid blade lock, forcing the blade to twist slightly, the crossguard vents for the red lightsaber's unstable kyber crystal began to etch into Finn's shoulder, burning straight through the jacket Poe gave him. Finn's scream of pain filled the forest.

* * *

Down in the snowdrift, Rey heard the scream as she blearily awakened. She knew that voice.

Her worry increased as she saw red and blue light glowing in the dark forest ahead, over the rise she'd fallen down. Finn's yell of pain carried through the forest, and she knew who was the cause of them.

Soon, she saw a few silhouettes of combating figures appear just over the rise.

* * *

Adrenaline surging through him, along with his burning shoulder pain, Finn broke free of the lock, twisting his body down and around Kylo's blade as the knight rose it to carve him in two from the head down. The blade cut the tree down the middle, but Finn darted around the Knight as he madly swung his red blade at him again. Another tree was nearly felled by the strike, before Finn swung his own blade out in reply.

The blade carved through the uniform and skin of Ren's upper right arm, but it was merely a flesh wound. Yet it was enough to finally snap the Knight out of his toying mood.

Stood nearby the same rise that he'd sent the girl down to a minute ago, albeit a good few dozen metres from where she'd gone down, Ren parried the wild opportunistic strike of Finn's saber, locking it in place. Then, he swung wide, his experience with the blade compared to Finn meaning he kept a hold of his, while Finn's saber went sailing over the edge of the rise and into the lower forest.

Caught like a womp-rat in gunsights, Finn backed up swiftly, but even his training wasn't fast enough to stop Kylo's fist from crashing into Finn's face. Staggering to the edge of the rise, Finn instinctively saw the escape route, and leant forwards to dive to safety.

But a carving, burning sensation on his back turned his world dark from the excruciating pain.

* * *

Finn's wound, a vertical slice along his back, had clearly knocked him unconscious from the pain, or hopefully worse if Ren had his say. The stormtrooper's body fell forwards, but Ren gave a snarl beneath his helmet as he force pushed Finn to further add insult to injury.

The body slid off the edge, landing in a plume of snow that accumulated at the bottom of the steep rise. Down here in the lower forests, the snow thinned from a few volcanic vents, but the trooper's resting place was where it built up.

Not that it mattered in death, Ren internally mused.

* * *

 **First Order Factory**

The turbolaser tower burst apart as Poe's low sweep of cannon fire tore it to shreds, his X-wing flying skywards as he saw a TIE Defender screaming towards the next X-wing trio making their missile run. The Defender's cannons ripped apart the X-wing in the lead, the craft spinning wildly before it had dived into the attack run down towards the factory.

 **"I'm hit-BZTT!"**

"Keep on your runs guys, we're doing the best we can!"

The TIE Defender was joined by a normal TIE fighter, but the A-wing providing fighter escort for the missile equipped X-wings dealt with the newcomer. Screaming towards the diving X-wings and their pursuer, BB-8 tweeted loudly as Poe went to full thrust, a flak burst right in front of his X-wing damaging their scopes.

"Dammit, full power to weapons B!"

Gritting his teeth, as the droid tweeted in reply from its socket, Poe triggered his laser cannons, the blasts trailing through the skies at greater intensity as his engines decreased in brightness. They cut through where the X-wings had just flown, and the TIE Defender flew right into the stream, one of its tri-wings torn off by the hail of laser fire to go spinning out of control straight down towards the factory.

 **"Missiles away!"**

The two remaining X-wings let loose their unguided missiles, right before they pulled up in a narrow miss of the ground. But one unlucky X-wing was clipped by ground fire, and lost its control to plough straight into one of the facility's hanger complexes its wingman flew right over.

As Poe pulled away, a call came over from resistance HQ:

"Scans show tremors happening below the impact sight, concussive warheads have destabilised the volcanic system!"

"Copy that. You hear that Squadrons? We're outta here before this thing blows!"

 **"We've got fighters inbound!"**

"Break through, or we'll be caught like them when it goes!"

Poe looked out his cockpit to see a vertiable swarm of fighters, screaming towards them from the ortibal fleet it seemed. Igniting his engines, he and the other Resistance fighters took flight across Loneh, looking to split up their attackers before they made their bid to escape in orbit.

* * *

 **Main control tower**

"Sir, the Resistance fighters are pulling out, we're giving chase as we speak."

At that moment however, a tremor shook the facility, to which any activity was silenced for a few moments.

Then, the alarm klaxons began to blare.

"They're triggered volcanic activity from the feedsite!"

The call from the systems manager on the control bridge only irked Hux's mood even more, as he now knew exactly what the Resistance had been planning.

"They hit to set off an eruption. Get it under control now!"

As acknowledgements were flung in his direction, grovelling underlings he had little time for, Hux swiftly left the control room for his own ends.

Another tremor shook the faciltity at that time, and in the distant mountains nearby the facility, some land slipped away, a few fissures appearing where the ground was fast becoming unstable.

* * *

 **Forest Depths**

He ignored the tremors that shook the forest, snow drifting off the trees as the world seemed to shake, vents in the distance seeming to spew forth more hot air and gases that gave the air a pungent odour from afar.

Searching around, Ren knew roughly where the lightsaber had flown to as he forced it out of Finn's hands, somewhere down here.

Then, he saw a glint in the distance. Amidst where the volcanic vents were, it had landed on solid, snow-less ground. Deactivating his own saber, Kylo walked forwards slightly, victorious as he put his saber on his belt, his other hand clasping his side wound now that battle had ceased.

Coming to a stop suddenly however, Kylo noticed the saber rattle slightly on the ground. Glancing down at his hand in confusion, the helmeted figure reached it out swiftly, his other clasping his wounded side as he grunted through his voice modulator.

The saber shifted on the smooth ground again, stronger this time, but Ren was aggravated as it wasn't responding as he wished. Right as he began to focus, it flew through the air.

But not to him. It flew off to a spot a dozen metres to his right, where a figure he hadn't noticed stood it catch it.

Her hand out, clasping the lightsaber tightly in her fingers, Rey stared stunned at it, and then at Kylo Ren, whose helmet did nothing to hide what astonishment, and outrage, he was obviously feeling, pouring off him like waves to her senses _._

They stared across at each other through the forest, her stunned expression turning to gaunt determination, his hidden bestial snarl turning more ugly as he awaited her move.

She ignited the lightsaber, holding it in a ready stance. It was no quarterstaff, but she wouldn't let that hold her back. Even so, she couldn't help but wonder if the shivering she felt was from the cold, the tremors and waves of volcanic heat now spewing from the vents, or the fear at the sight of Kylo Ren's helmeted visage as he ignited his own fiery blade, and stood there, waiting like the shadow he was.

She saw he was waiting for her to make the first strike, a predator waiting to pounce on foolish prey. She was neither to him if she had any say in it.

Lunging forwards, she stabbed at him with the blade tip, but Kylo swiped it aside with a swift parry. Keeping her momentum up, she swung around the blade to force Kylo to backstep, as she then swung the opposite way, the Knight's blade countering her own. As she lashed out her blade yet again, Kylo dodged as easily as a shadow he resembled, her blade sailing through and slicing apart a narrow tree trunk to send it falling over into the thin snow covered ground.

Now Kylo went on the attack, as he advanced upon her, a spinning blade becoming an overhead slash that she backed away from. Lunging forwards with another stab, her staff fighting not translating perfectly to the saber, Rey saw Kylo parry aside her move yet again, sending her staggering past him in her momentum. As she staggered past, the screaming red blade came at her head, which a swift duck from her made slash through a nearby tree instead, sending another crashing to the forest floor. By now they had reached the ground around the vents, the fumes in the air ignored as the more humid air swirled around them, much of the snow now gone where they duelled.

Backing up from her more skilled opponent, Rey braced for another spat of combat with a guard stance as Kylo advanced on her, the red light from his blade glinting like blood on his metallic helmet, making him resemble the monster he truly was in her eyes.

Around them, the ground trembled as unseen forced heaved in preparation for cataclysm, though to them, only they existed to each other, along with the urge to kill or defend themselves on part of Ren and Rey each. Though ever so slowly, Rey felt more urge to attack then to simply defend, while Kylo merely pressed his attack all the time without any let up.

* * *

 **Much of what I changed/added was to do with the fighter attack, to make us actually care more about them/feel as if they're out of their league. In short, more casualties of ground fire and fighter attack.**

 **And like the Dambusters and 633 squadron raids, they have multiple direct hits with their concussion missiles to trigger the volcanic overload by way of focuses shockwaves, and there's no single direct hit blows the whole thing. Enough hits destabilises the pressure that is normally being harvested of heat and minerals, mostly the latter. But given Poe was more involved in the story already there's already character stakes involved.**

* * *

 **As for their escape, Chewbacca lures most of the troopers away as he goes to get the Falcon, leaving Rey and Finn with only two troopers to tail them. Right before Kylo ambushes them, and by way of the force once he's pushed Rey down to a lower precipice, removes Finn's rifle as an option [he's had enough of being shot at for one day].**

* * *

 **Just a bit of added dialogue, to mention that Ren will see Skywalker die as Solo did, but otherwise the actual lightsaber fights are much the same.**

 **Except the difference in the forests, where when Rey and Ren fight, they advance into an area filled with more volcanic vents, hence less snow, and the chapter name. Think of it as a 'stepped forest', with one part rising like a shifted stone in a pavement above another.**

* * *

 **Also, to make Rey's sudden force abilities seem slightly more 'raw' and less overpowered, but still tangible, she has the easier task of summoning a lightsaber lying on solid ground, and not also stuck in snow. At the same time, Ren is confused because it doesn't even come towards him at all, and even begins moving slightly before he tries. Though if seen on film his helmet would hide much of this facial reaction.**


	17. Ways of the Force

**Loneh, planet surface**

As the battle began to disperse, the Resistance fighters scurrying through the skies to begin their escape, the Factory complex billowed smoke from the damaged sections of the main landing complex. Alarm klazons blared, echoing across the landscape.

On the nearby mountainside, miles away, fissures began to open, the ground shaking as the tectonic forces the concussive warheads the attackers fired at the base to trigger, finally reached critical point.

Vents of hot air blasted out of the ground, melting snow as the plumes of volcanic gas began to escape, the precursor to the buildup of magma being loosened by the chain reaction of earthquakes the bombs set off.

The Resistance attack had triggered the final shake of this pressurised system of geothermal activity that the First Order so carefully used for easy power and mining of the mineral rich deposits the volcanic networks brought forth from the mantle.

Now, the ground heaved, ready to erupt, as fractures began to snake in all directions, surging towards any weak points, any openings already in place.

* * *

 **First order Loneh facility, command centre building.**

 **Control bridge**

In the distance, the plumes of smoke billowing were easily seen through the control tower, but a few fissures opened in the earth near the command centre, miles from the main factory, as the ground ruptured in all directions.

Over the comms, officers and technicians rallied the evacuation orders, whilst the lead officer on deck at that moment took the commlink in contact with the blockade fleet's lead star destroyer:

 _ **"Loneh control, blockade fleet reporting, we are in position to jump to hyperspace to attack the Resistance base."**_

"This is control, abandon those attack plans, we'll need all ships in orbit ready to accommodate the evacuation craft. Attack the fleeing fighters but do not pursue! Time is short!"

 _ **"...Understood."**_

Disengaging the commlink, the Lieutenant began to make his way off, as another deck officer of higher rank strode through the command deck, catching sight of the lieutenant in flight:

"Lieutenant, get back to your station!"

Not having time for it, the officer exasperatedly gestured to the window, casting a furious glare as he continued his way out. The facility was lost, that was clear:

"Just look! We won't survive! Even Hux is gone!"

The officer was silent as the Lieutenant left, such insubordination usually not to be stood for. But rank meant nothing if they didn't evacuate.

Turning back, the officer resumed to direct the evacuation, knowing somebody had to maintain order amidst the chaos.

* * *

 **Main control tower**

 **Communications hall**

As Hux strode wildly down the walkway of the darkened, cathedral-esqe holo-hall, he saw the Supreme Leader already waiting, his large blue holoform shimmering as a piece of debris fell through his projected image before the General:

"Supreme Leader! The stabilizing vents have failed! The facility will be consumed in the eruption!"

Pausing for a brief moment, Snoke shuffled in his chair with a sense of mild urgency, though more concerned with matters elsewhere in his train of thought:

"Leave the Base at once and come to me with Kylo Ren. It is time to complete his training."

Staring at the Supreme Leader as he nodded in acknowledgement, Hux internally seethed at the luck this day had yielded.

As the Supreme Leader's form vanished, and another small tremor rocked the building, Hux opened his commlink up:

"Security, get me Kylo Ren's locator beacon coordinates!"

Striding out of the hall, Hux suppressed his continued outrage at the loss today would have for the First Order as he went to his orders.

His wellspring of wonder weapons, new or repurposed old tech, ruined, destroyed, by that rabble.

If Hux had his way, he'd see a swift revenge on the Resistance fast enough that the New Republic wouldn't have a hope of regrouping to possibly help.

But fantasizing was not going to get the task at hand completed.

Behind him, the hall fell dark and silent for the last time.

* * *

 **Loneh orbit**

The X-wings and A-wings punched through the highest cloud banks, and out of the planet's atmosphere entirely, a few random bursts from the pursuing TIE fighters catching one unlucky X-wing enough to send it spinning away.

In the far distance, one of the blockade Star Destroyers surged in, but it was too far for a chance to wipe them all out, despite the barrage of lasers that flew from its turbolasers and point defence turrets.

Leading the way in his black painted T-70, Poe weaved below a spread of laser fire that flew their way from the incoming Star Destroyer, as BB-8 whistled at the distant sight of one of the destroyed defence satellites they took out in the initial attack. It seemed such a long time since the attack started.

"Let's get outta here."

As BB chirped in reply, the space around his X-wing warped, right as he saw the trails of light and warped space following the other fighters jumping ahead of him.

The black X-wing vanished into Hyperspace, the TIE fighters dispersing as their quarry had vanished.

The destroyer and TIE Defenders that were there didn't pursue. Their efforts would be focused on salvage and evacuation. The Resistance escaped, but not without cost. Three in every five Resistance pilots would not return to their base.

It had been a hard won victory for them, whereas this was merely one facility for the First Order.

Today's loss was more a matter of pride, but given the losses at Hosnian Prime, the scales still were in the Order's favour.

* * *

 **Forest Depths**

Rey almost ran backwards as Kylo continued to charge her through the snow flecked, stony ravine their clash came to.

He was relentless, his blade swinging as he made each new strike at her. Yet she kept him going, she knew she wouldn't win going in for a direct attack. But there were alternatives to overwhelming your foe, she knew this much from her life on Jakku.

Fatigue was one's greatest enemy.

Coming to a rise in the small ravine, flanked by a volcanic fume vent, she grabbed the ledge and all but leapt up, something, adrenaline most likely, empowering her movement. As she leapt up, the red blade slicing recklessly at where her foot had just been, Kylo audibly grunted, the helmet's vocal mechanism adding the hard metallic edge to its animalistic ferocity.

Backing up, Rey saw that a small frozen stream flowed in a much deeper ravine that they had come to now, falling away from them as a large expanse of flat land rose above them in a rather sharp incline on both sides. Their fight had taken them into a small canyon of sorts, and ahead, Rey saw her path narrow as the stream loomed a dozen metres below them on one side, and the sheer 40 metre cliff face rose on the other side, snow flecks on the flat perches giving white to the otherwise blackened landscape.

Yet down below, there were flecks of red, as the source of the fumes beckoned from where the stream of frozen water had turned to steam by a few vents of molten lava creeping out like the roots of a tree. As another tremor shook the ground, Rey almost lost focus as she glanced about her surroundings in alarm.

But a hissing red blade came hurtling towards her, the plasma missing as she ducked away, the crackling energy instead slicing into the rock face after Ren's erratic slash. But backing away, Rey countered as he engaged her again, her backwards glances making sure she stayed on the path rise that loomed between the cliff face and the stream gully on the other side of them.

He slashed again, his blade carving a deep gouge into the slate-grey rock as the snow billowed around them, the fumes turning Rey's skin clammy more then the sweat from battle, and the head from the fumes by the opened lava vent stifling to both of them.

But Ren was determined even after much of the blood loss, as Rey continually noticed that he limped towards her whenever she gave ground.

He swung an overhead strike, which Rey deflected to her regret, as the sheer physical force sent her own blade slamming tip first into the rock. But Kylo's fatigue set in, as he was slow to raise his own blade back up again. As he raised it to aim for her throat, Rey raised her blue blade to block, his overhead strike slamming into her sideways blade enough to force her to stagger backwards mid blade lock, as her feet came perilously close to where the ledge narrowed, and half fell away into the gully below. The ground trembled as their blades locked, a few boulders falling into the ravine further away as the tremors reached them.

As the blades crackled on contact, Kylo Ren's voice burned from his helmet, as Rey barely kept her focus as he mocked her, even offered her as he spoke:

"You need a teacher! That fool and that map to him are not your future! I can show you the ways of the Force!"

"The force..." Rey mumbled, as she strained against the force of Kylo's blade on her own. Deciding to trust her instincts, she shut her eyes in focus.

* * *

The world fell away, both further down the ravine, and as her own mental landscape began to come into focus.

All sound became clear, yet not overwhelming, the tremors of the earth and rockfalls further away becoming more akin to the heartbeats of the planet, rather then a looming peril. The shadow before her loomed without the veil of fear. His fear, her fear, no longer gave him power.

As she focused, Kylo found her strength was constant, yet he tried to probe her mind. But fatigue weakened him already before now, and as much as he tried, he couldn't get out of the blade lock they were in. His head tilting in aggravation slightly, the Knight surged to press his attack. His master wanted her alive after all.

* * *

But as he made to surge onto her blade, Ren saw the Rey suddenly glare at him, and twist beneath him as his strength carried him forwards, her body twisting free of the saber lock as his own strength nearly sent him over the edge of the ravine, into the frigid, volcanic fume strewn gully below them.

As he nearly staggered over the edg, Rey backed up from Ren's wild backwards slash from righting himself to face her. But caught off guard by Rey's sudden turnabout in this duel, the hooded figure was suddenly on the defensive as Rey charged him, Saber swinging towards him.

He swung his own blade out, but her newfound focus, and his fatigue, were his downfall. Her strikes powered them back along the narrower ravine, as she stabbed out, Ren's swipes to parry her strikes weaker then he expected. She kept advancing, taking their bout onto the pathway now only 2 metres across, the sheer cliff face rising to their left, and the ravine to their right.

Again and again she struck, no technique but entirely focused upon not giving Ren any breathing room. Hammerlike blows as she brought her blade down repeatedly, forcing Ren to counter with strength draining blows. One final blow staggered him as his right leg gave out, and doubling backwards, Rey slashed outwards, Kylo's own blade barely deflecting it enough to have it only slash his billowing black cloak and send a large burnt rag flying into the fume submerged ravine to their right.

Staggering backwards, Kylo scrambled for ground, as Rey stood over him, her face gaunt as she advanced on him. Seething beneath his helmet, the metallic groan accompanying the hiss of his blade swiping at her, Rey struck out, her blade tip slicing the edge of Kylo's left shoulder, leaving a deep burn cut on its sleeve and his skin there.

Recoiling from the blow, Kylo struggled upwards as Rey swooped in, another overhead strike forcing his blade up to counter. But as he parried, a boot came crashing into his chest, sending the Knight sprawling onto his back on the narrow pathway, as another distant tremor wracked the small canyon yet again. The crossguards of his lightsaber burned into the ground as he lay there, dazed from his ordeal, his side aching and almost numb now in the cold and from blood loss.

Shuffling to his feet, Rey saw Kylo grab the cliff face for a brace as he got to his ready stance, barely able to stand as he gathered what strength he had. Advancing on him, she saw he would be the one to make the strike here.

Sure enough, the Knight lost all composure he may have had in reserve, and lashed out with a single handed strike. Swinging her blade out, she parried, and then swiftly freed her blade to a one handed grip as she locked Kylo's weapon hand in her own. But as she swung her blade to him, Kylo's free hand whipped out to grab hers, leaving them both in a precarious place on the narrow rocky pathway, hands and blades locked as they struggled against one another.

As the earth trembled again, Rey strained, finding Kylo's strength was failing him. Slowly, she pressed his crimson weapon into the rock face beside them, the blade crackling as it burned into the rocks. Beneath his mask, Kylo groaned mechanically as he tried to force his blade up, his face focused on it as she kept it down.

But that focus was his downfall, as he devoted strength to his own weapon, and not the other.

She whipped her lightsaber down, Kylo's weak grip on her own hand not stopping it at all, and the blue blade catching the red blade's hilt at its strongest point. The heatproof lightsaber nozzle wasn't cut, but the force of the blow sent the blade scattering from Ren's hands, the crimson blade and its crossguard counterparts deactivating as it clattered to the pathway ground.

In an instant, Rey wrenched the saber up again, blue light flashing into the helmet's visage as the plasma sliced upwards.

* * *

Coming to flourish the blade by her side as she panted, exhausted, Rey saw her opponent on the ground now, sprawled back, weak, and defeated.

The helmet lay sliced open diagonally up the right side and centre, and as Kylo wrenched his head up in pain and fury, the helmet came apart as he ripped it in half from his head. The face of Ben Solo now bore the scar of his defeat today, the red burnt slice across his face, just below the eye and up across his right check and upper nose, was the mark she gave him.

Staring at his face as he all but fearfully glared at her, she stood impassively for a moment, fury in her eyes as she glanced down at her blade, as did Kylo from where he lay prone metres before her.

But a tremor above them distracted her, as they both glanced upwards to see rocks begin to fall towards them from the above cliffs.

Kylo Ren began to scramble for his lightsaber, but as he did, he saw Rey take flight back down the path where they'd fought, her saber deactivating as she sprinted. The rocks fell to block the path he could take to pursue her, as he could only glare as he put the blade back on his belt and merely lay on the ground like the wounded animal he was.

Over the collapsed pile of rubble that nearly blocked her on that ravine path with him, Rey tore off back the way she'd come, the snowflakes blurred as she made her escape.

* * *

As she tore through the increasingly snow covered ravine where Ren had pursued her just minutes earlier, she saw a ship approaching from the opposite side of the larger ravine she'd left her foe in. Overhead, she saw the lights from a familiar black shuttle begin to trail down on the ravine from afar, as its long winged shape came to a hover further back just over the ravine.

Seething, she knew that Kylo would live to see another day. Internally, she wondered if she should have killed him.

A question that she kept to herself.

* * *

 **Loneh, forest depths**

She saw him still lying on the ground, the terrible slash up his back as he lay on the ground in the snow plume as horrific as when she first received it.

"Finn!"

Scrambling to her knees, she rushed to turn him over, checking for life signs. But it was not looking good, the man was barely breathing. As exhaustion overwhelmed her after her ordeal against Kylo Ren, the earth tremors shook the ground again as she slumped over Finn's body, her own tears of defeat threatening to come forth.

A light shone on her, as she looked up in fear, wondering of Kylo Ren's ship that saved him had followed her.

But the YT-1300 freighter that had come to hover down, a tree crumbling as it forced its weight to land in a nearby clearing, made her heart leap for joy. The Wookie inside the cockpit gave a small wave as he set down the craft, but Rey's vision was blurred from euphoria and fatigue today.

Shaking Finn in a vain hope to give him consciousness, Rey began to lift the ex-stormtrooper, straining to pull him more then a few dozen metres before the Wookie scrambled over from the settling Falcon to help.

* * *

 **Loneh Orbit**

It wasn't long before the Millenium Falcon punched into orbit, clearing the facility's nearby forests as the volcanic chain reaction finally was set loose.

As the freighter took to the skies, the mountainside around the facility all but detonated in a plume of ash, smoke and fire, billowing outwards as the blast and pyroclastic flows consumed the main factory complex, and fissures opened in the earth where the faultlines of mining and power usage had been previosuly.

Further away, the collapsing mag-loop lines fell first, until the command facility kilometres away fell as well, the massive eruption sending its destructive flows to crash into the facility as well, and tear the earth apart with the multiple earthquakes set off in wake of the Eruption.

The Loneh facility, and most of its infrastructure save the most outlying infrastructure, were consumed in the tectonic devastation.

* * *

In orbit, amidst transport ships going down to salvage what they could once the eruption settled, and as the TIE fleets swarmed hopelessly in pursuit of a last escaping ship, the Millenium Falcon jumped to Hyperspace, clear of danger, headed home.

* * *

 **For the most part just detailing what changes I kept in store, with it being mixed volcanic and earthquake activity the resistance sets off that consumes the base's larger areas.**

* * *

 **As for Kylo and Rey's duel, their duel takes place in a ravine, with the snow melted by natural vents, so the mixture of fire and ice to a degree.**

 **And as she slashes his face, his helmet splits apart along where his in film scar is, and he discards it to reveal his face at the end, no longer pretty boy Ben even beneath the mask that he feels is more who he really is now.**

 **But the biggest change is how they are split apart. Briefly, Kylo's ligthsaber is still intact, I double checked that against Wookiepedia.**

 **But I chose a ravine for a reason, as the earthquakes trigger many landslides. So a landslide instead prompts Rey to get out before it traps her in with Kylo in that ravine. Take it as a better plot device, or as a metaphorical representation to not get caught in the violence she could do to end him, take your pick.**

 **No miracle ravine opening between them that somehow doesn't result in at least one of them falling.**

 **And she learns, even if she doesn't agree fully internally, that she made the right choice. Hanging around to finish off Ren would make her prime targets for the rescue party Hux organizes.**

* * *

 **Also, I actually show Ren being rescued, even if indirectly via searchlights from shuttle.**

* * *

 **Aside from that, largely the same. But on a brief aside, I give valid reason as to why the Order doesn't simply chase them back to the base immediately. Long story short, priorities win over pride every time, at leas to those who wish to win.**

* * *

 **Next chapter will be very soon I promise, I've finished my other fiction commitments that would otherwise take my attention for now, so I will finish this before starting anything else.**

* * *

 **Please review/critique as one would, detailed reviews welcomed.**


	18. Departures

**D'qar, Resistance Base**

 **Landing areas**

The jubilation was engulfing the base, even as the air of wariness about the repercussions of their victory hung over every head on the base. This loss would not be one the First Order would take lying down, even in wake of their destabilizing of the galactic stage with their crippling strike to the Republic's centre of power.

But as the remnants of the strike squadrons trickled back, there were still the faint pangs of mourning as it became all too clear just how much the desperate attack had cost them.

Nearly two-thirds of the squadrons of X-wings and A-wings didn't return, and every one of them meant a lost pilot of their operation.

As fighters landed and their pilots disembarked, celebrations were laced with downcast expressions, as many pilots stared towards the empty fighter hangers that wouldn't see their occupants return.

As his X-wing fully powered down, Poe disembarked, sighing slightly as he stared down at where a few X-wings, and their pilots with them, no longer stood.

Nudging his leg slightly, BB-8 whistled in a subdued, almost sympathetic manner, to which Poe gave a small smile as he knelt down and patted the droid's head reassuringly.

"They went out fighting, can't get better then that."

As BB hummed lowly, Poe heard some applause ringing up from the further end of the landing field, as a familiar YT-1300 corellian freighter came to land before a gathered crowd.

* * *

Finn was still unconscious on the medical stretcher, having been briefly and gently turned over as the emergency treatment patches had been applied to his back. As the Resistance medics prepared to take him away, Rey stared down at his unconscious form with a look of thankfulness, even remorse, for all that happened to him, and others.

She never would have imagined herself where she was a few weeks ago.

Yet now here she was, hoping for the life of this ex-stormtrooper to be saved, unlike one who they'd lost so recently that it still hurt.

Leaning down, she planted a small kiss on his dark forehead, whispering to him as the medical staff silently lifted him up to carry to the med ward:

"I'll be back, and thank you."

As she watched calmly, while Finn was swiftly carried towards one of the base's hidden structure hills, Rey saw a few familiar faces emerge from the crowd.

Poe Dameron, with BB-8 rolling behind at his heels, paused as his face fell with worry at the sight of Finn on the stretcher. Slowly, he then turned to Rey as some crowds dispersed from the Falcon's surroundings, BB-8 quietly whistling as Poe asked with a half hearted attempt at greeting her again. But Rey felt the concern he had for Finn, as she also had, in his voice:

"Rey, you okay? What happened to him?"

Shaking her head slightly, Rey shuddered near the end of her reply, the crackle of Ren's blade still fresh in her memory, and all it put them through.

"Yes, I'm fine. But he, Finn, we were attacked..."

"...I've seen medics patch up worse. But how you'd get back?"

Rey stared back at the freighter, remarking with less shakiness in her voice now:

"Chewbacca flew us in the ship."

"What about Han?"

Rey said nothing, only a painful sight escaping her lips as she looked down, blinking rapidly as she fought back the tears and memories of what happened to the elder man.

Poe didn't need to ask further, as he turned away slightly, unable to feel as hurt as he should be. Amidst the losses he and other squadmates had encountered today, the loss of this lone smuggler seemed just another to add to the costs. And yet each new one hurt all the same.

BB-8 quietly hummed as it wheeled around, while Poe quietly murmured to Rey:

"I'm, gonna check in with the docs, see about him...I'm glad you're safe. We've lost too many already."

Rey couldn't help but silently agree with the pilot as he turned to leave, BB-8 casting her a silent stare from beside his ankles as it too followed in Poe's footsteps, away towards the further medical bunker.

Yet through the crowds, Rey saw a new figure emerging, an elder woman, whose rank earned a few salutes as she passed by, fixated on the Falcon.

* * *

Leia saw the girl standing almost aimlessly at the foot of the Falcon's boarding ramp, their gazes meeting briefly.

But before Leia could even ask the question on her mind, that gut feeling she feared hadn't been just a mere feeling, a Wookie forlornly walked down the boarding ramp. As if hoping for him to emerge after Chewbacca, Leia waited a few moments. But Han never came down the ramp.

Chewbacca slowly walked forwards, as if not seeing Leia, the wookie's eyes downcast as he drew level with the woman. But before he could pass her by, she gently stuck out an arm, lightly grabbing his furry upper arm and looking deeply into his eyes, her sadness returning as she saw the hollow look in the Wookie's expression as he turned to face her, stopping in his melancholy walk.

Not even emitting a sad growl, Chewbacca let Leia give his arm a light squeeze, looking down briefly as he turned away, walking off to find somewhere to be alone, away from the ship that reminded him too much of Han right now.

As if she knew that Han meant a lot to the woman before her, Rey slowly walked forwards as Leia looked back at her. The young girl shook her head slightly, unable to say what had happened out loud.

All Leia could do was pull the girl into a hug, yet this did little to evaporate the tension she felt in Rey's body.

"I'm sorry."

Rey's low murmur wasn't one Leia replied to, as she pulled away, words meaningless at this point.

Behind her, as if a blessing in breaking this uneasiness, a protocol droid walked up briskly, his words distracting Leia into turning around as Rey also looked the droid's way.

C-3PO carefully spoke, as he had been in enough delicate emotional situations to realize when certain things shouldn't be said. But this was crucial:

"General Organa, if I may, now that we have made sure the First Order doesn't have the map, we must hurry. I suspect they will already be making plans to retaliate once they have gathered the means to do so."

Nodding quietly, Leia gestured for the droid to lead on.

* * *

 **Resistance Base**

 **Main Communications centre**

It was a while before Chewbacca came out of his misery induced state, having found a small corner in the base and sat there quietly, head in furry hands.

Yet as the activity around the communications centre seemed to heat up, the Wookie felt little reason to go.

But a woman came over to him, and her gruff voice as she stood above him woke him up slightly:

"He wouldn't want you like this you know..."

Looking up at Leia, Chewbacca was silent, before slowly shuffling to his feet. Unlike the landing areas, where he had been still overcome with shock still, he stood there quietly as he pulled the elder human woman into his arms, not relenting as the woman patted his back up until he released her.

Giving Chewbacca a mournful smile, Leia gestured for the Wookie to follow her, and without much pause, he did just that. Chewbacca wasn't one to dwell much, not waste time. But most importantly, Han wouldn't approve of him wallowing as he had just been.

* * *

As preparations were made around the base for the impending evacuations that would surely be needed in future, C-3PO, Rey, Chewbacca, Poe, BB-8 and others as part of this intelligence gathering saw the map fall into place yet again.

The map came into view, BB-8's upload before the attack, seemingly an eternity ago, being zeroed in on to give them the exact coordinates they needed. C-3PO spoke as he gestured a hand to the glinting star system and planet within.

"There, the Ahch-To system, as the map indicates."

"Luke..."

Leia gently whispered to herself, a hope she desperately needed after all that had happened. Beside her, Rey asked bluntly, yet hopefully:

"How will we find him there?"

Giving a small smile to Rey, Leia remarked off-handedly:

"He has a droid with him, an R2 unit. He'll be a good beacon to track."

Chewbacca quietly growled in a nod, as Rey gave a small smile in understanding. Leia was entrusting this girl to go with Chewbacca, to find him when he was needed most.

On her side, her fingers grazed the lightsaber she carried on her belt now. This time, she would go willingly where fate, no, the force seemed to be compelling her to go.

* * *

 **Resistance Base, landing areas**

A gathering was growing to watch the Falcon take off, to go and finally acquire a very prominent person who the Resistance could use as a rallying point.

As final cargo was loaded, Chewbacca making one last run of a crate up the boarding ramp, Rey was slowly walking to embark as well.

But Leia stopped her, the General having come to see her off. Turning to face the woman one last time, Rey gave a small smile as her words carried across the small space between them, a proud smile on the woman's face:

"Rey. May the Force be with you."

Nodding at this, Rey turned to leave aboard the Falcon, the Wookie awaiting her to get on board.

* * *

In the crowds of Resistance pilots and crew that saw off the Falcon, Poe and BB-8 stood beside C-3PO and General Leia in silence as the others cheered.

The YT-1300's blue hued thrusters engaged as it hovered off the landing area, taking to the skies to make the long journey it had to do.

The Falcon would enter hyperspace, and through it, arrive at the planet that held hope for the future of the galaxy, for peace.

* * *

 **Ahch-To**

 **Remote islands**

The planet was mostly water, a sapphire jewel of a planet when seen from orbit. But many dark coloured archipelagos were scattered over the planet's surface.

Their scans detected one exposed droid of unique signature from the local wildlife, one that matched the signature of an astromech droid they sought, located on one of these archipelago islands.

Before long, the Falcon had punched through the cloud banks over the planet's global waters, able to fly at wave-level as it came in close to land at the island where they detected the droid signal. An astromech, an R2 unit.

But also, upon closer detection, a single human.

The island in question was large, but also very tall in structure.

* * *

Stood at the foot of the long stone steps, Rey glanced back to see Chewbacca waiting at the foot of the Falcon's boarding ramp, growling loudly from afar as he gestured up the long stairwell that lay above and before her.

Taking a breath, she began to make her way up.

As she climbed up, using her quarterstaff to ease the strain of so many steps, which had been aboard the Falcon the whole time, she felt that there was something about this place. It was old, the ruins of old buildings too decayed to make out what they once looked like dotting its tops. Brick lain walls and stairs lined the top of the island's rises.

The waves echoed far below before long, as she made her way up into the ruins. It looked like the remnants of a place of worship, a temple. Perhaps the first Jedi temple as she heard he'd been searching for.

Stepping through a series of arches, carved into the semi-ruined walls of the temple, she rounded more corners, and climbed up a grassy rise at the top of the island's hill ridge. She kept on going, until she stopped, as a large clearing, almost like a makeshift square or plaza flat, emerged before her. The terrain dropped away at one section, but before it was what she'd searched for.

* * *

Staring out at the sea, back turned to her, a hooded figure in grey robes stood silently. But she knew better then to think he hadn't seen their ship land, or hear her approaching.

Beside the robed figure, a white and blue astromech turned to see Rey appear, whistling in a lower pitched tune then she'd heard BB-8 ever emit.

At his droid's chirps, the figure slowly turned to face her, still stood tall as he glanced at her, his weathered face and greying beard and hair revealed as he lowered his hood, staring silently at her.

As Luke Skywalker patiently waited for her to say what she had to say, she saw the look of hesitant, but experienced wisdom behind his eyes, jaded by his losses at the hands of the Order, and the Knights of Ren. Slowly, she unpacked the lightsaber from the bag at her side, the lightsaber that once belonged to him, and his father before him, and held it out to him, an almost pleading look in her eyes as she stood there, holstering her quarterstaff onto her back as she stood there, stoic before this Jedi Master.

R2-D2 slowly chirped as it turned its head to look at Luke, the droid also recognising the lightsaber. But Luke only stared at the weapon with an almost empty look, before his expression slowly turned to Rey's own.

Her pleas that her eyes beheld were not just her own, but of a galaxy, crying out for a chance of peace, a leader who was needed to set an example, to return, to bring undo the darkness as he once did.

And as he stared at her, Luke's face fell slowly, the faintest shadow of reluctant acceptance that the time had come creeping through his eyes. Rey could only stand across from the Jedi master, seeing hope slowly emerge in her future.

She had come far, from not trusting strangers, to now placing her trust in someone she was meeting, one she'd only heard of, for the first time. Because she had to, the force was crying out for it to be done.

The Jedi stood, the droid that accompanied him beside him, atop the hills of Ahch-To across from the girl, the seeds of healing the galaxy so desperately needed after recent events planted here, now.

And against the darkness the First Order had spread, a single glimmer was enough to undo its total control of all it sought to engulf.

* * *

 _ **FIN**_

* * *

 **Big change here is that if it were put to screen, the losses the Resistance sustained, and the feeling of tension at the inevitable retaliation, would be weighing on their minds more. But mostly, the images of how many fighters don't make it back serves that purpose, along with C3PO mentioning it.**

 **Mostly minor changes here, Leia comforts Chewbacca more then she does in film, as much as she should have in my mind.**

 **Also, given he isn't around to Map-ex-machina, R2 went with the one member of the OT group that he most associated with, Luke, to Ahch-To. In keeping with Artoo being with Luke through all his own jedi steps, he's here with him in his exile, as he also was at the jedi academy prior if the image of him laying a hand on artoo in the massacre remains in movie is any indicator.**

 **Given that R2 ends up on Ahch-To in the movie anyway, this is convenient.**

 **But most of these changes are consequences of what changes I already made, but in the end, it all leads to the same end. Everyone is where they are at the end, but the journey to get there is as different from a New Hope as it should have been.**


End file.
